Janie Dee and Stefan Bednarczyk Will Perform COWARD & FRIENDS For One Night Only at The Menier Chocolate Factory
Janie Dee leads the company of Noël Coward's Fallen Angels at the theatre.
By: Stephi Wild Dec. 22, 2025
With their production of Noël Coward's Fallen Angels currently running at the theatre, the Menier Chocolate Factory have announced that Janie Dee, who leads the company, will be staging a special one-night-only performance of Coward & Friends with Stefan Bednarczyk on 25 January at 7.30pm.
Featuring songs, scenes and anecdotes, Dee and Bednarczyk explore the story behind Coward's artistry and their relationship to him through his wonderfully witty words and deeply touching songs.
Tickets are now on sale to Chocolate Factory members, and will go on sale to the public at 10am on 23 December.
Fallen Angels is running until 21 February 2026. First performed exactly 100 years ago, Noël Coward's outrageous comedy remains one of his funniest creations. Best friends Julia and Jane, now settled in happy marriages, receive an unexpected visit from a glamorous shared ex-boyfriend, and passions are rekindled with explosive results. This is the first London revival of the play in 25 years.
Biographies
Janie Dee is currently appearing in Fallen Angels at the Menier and has also previously appeared in The Boy Friend. Her other extensive stage work includes A Role to Die For (Barn Theatre), Old Friends (Gielgud Theatre), The Motive and the Cue, Follies (National Theatre), The Grass Is Greener (Theatre Royal Windsor), An Hour and A Half Late (Theatre Royal Bath and UK tour), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Theatre Royal Bath and Charing Cross Theatre), A Little Night Music (Buxton Festival), Pinter 4 – Moonlight/Night School (Pinter at the Pinter), Linda (Talent Works NY), Hand to God (Vaudeville Theatre), The Seagull (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Ah, Wilderness! (Young Vic), Blithe Spirit (Gielgud Theatre), Putting It Together (St James Theatre), Hello Dolly! (Curve, Leicester), NSFW (Royal Court Theatre), All's Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare's Globe), A Month in the County (Chichester Festival Theatre), Calendar Girls (Noël Coward Theatre), Woman in Mind (Stephen Joseph Theatre and Vaudeville Theatre), Shadowlands (Wyndham's Theatre), Mack and Mabel (Watermill Theatre national tour and Criterion Theatre), Donkey's Years (Comedy Theatre), Divas at the Donmar – one woman show, Comic Potential (Lyric Theatre and Broadway – Olivier, Critics' Circle and Evening Standard Award for Best Actress), Paradise Moscow (Opera North) and Carousel (National Theatre – Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical). For Theatre Royal Bath, her many credits include The Apple Cart, Old Times (also national tour), Much Ado About Nothing, Betrayal (also West End) and Design for Living. For television, her work includes The Burning Girls, You and Me, Chimerica, Crashing, Doctor Who, Harold Pinter: A Celebration, The Murder Room, Death in Holy Orders, House of Cards, The Live Show, Heartbeat, Little White Lies, Spy Watch, and Love Hurts; and for film, Official Secrets, Me and Orson Welles, Celebration and Virtuoso.
Stefan Bednarczyk read music at Oxford University and was a choral scholar at Queen's College. His extensive credits as musical director include The National Theatre, Barbican, Almeida Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Open Air Theatre, St James Theatre and Jermyn Street Theatre, as well as in regional theatres across the UK. He composed and directed scores for over 30 productions at The Warehouse Theatre, Croydon; has enjoyed seasons at many London cabaret venues; and has worked overseas in Antibes, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Malaga, Dubai, Adelaide, Barbados, Vienna, and New York. As an actor, his roles have included Twelfth Night (Orange Tree Theatre), Hamlet (GSC), Tonight at 8.30 (Jermyn Street Theatre), Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Queen's Theatre, opposite Gene Wilder), the West End première of Coward's Semi-Monde (Lyric Theatre), The Games of Love and Chance (National Theatre) and The L.A. Plays (Almeida Theatre); and films including Florence Foster Jenkins, Friends Pictured Within and Mike Leigh's Oscar-winning Topsy-Turvy.
