Sam Mendes directs captivating new play The Hills of California – review
It’s been seven long years since we last had a new play from celebrated playwright Jez Butterworth – 2017’s The Ferryman, set during The Troubles, won both the Olivier Award for Best New Play and the Tony Award for Best Play.
He also wrote 2009’s Jerusalem, which recently enjoyed a high-profile West End revival. Teaming up once again with director Sam Mendes, and with the backing of Sonia Friedman Productions, The Hills of California has arrived in London with considerable fanfare – not to mention high expectations.
It’s an impressive new family drama. Set in Blackpool during the summer heatwave of 1976, we meet the Webb sisters in their home, Sea View, as their mother is upstairs dying from stomach cancer.
Or, rather, we meet most of them – Jill (Helena Wilson), Ruby (Ophelia Lovibond) and Gloria (Leanne Best) spend much of the play waiting for their eldest sister Joan – wondering whether she will actually jet in from California to visit their dying mother and debating whether they should hang on for her.
