The Hills of California

Take one Jez Butterworth. Stir in some Sam Mendes. What do you get? Pure magic. The Hills of California is the creative duo’s latest masterpiece and it’s all set to be a big hit for 2024, on at the Harold Pinter Theatre for a strictly limited run from January to June. The setting is the super-hot summer of 1976, when the UK’s rivers and reservoirs dried up and the people sweltered. The place is Blackpool. The guest house is called Sea View, but there are no sea views. You can’t see the sand for the crowds and the seafront is packed solid with revellers. The Webb Sisters have come home to their mum’s guest house, where she’s dying in bed upstairs.

The Webb family is played by four seasoned actors. Laura Donnelly’s work on The Ferryman, The Nevers, and Outlander delighted us. She’s joined by Leanne Best of Sweat, Ripper Street, and Line of Duty fame. Ophelia Lovibond played starring roles in Minx, W1A, and The Effect, and Helena Wilson wowed us in Vogue World, Jack Absolute Flies Again, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. The rest of the cast are Bryan Dick, Shaun Dooley, Corey Johnson, Richard Lumsden, Natasha Magigi, Nancy Allsop and Sophia Ally, plus Alfie Jackson, Lara McDonnell, Lucy Moran and Nicola Turner. Prepare for a classy play you won’t forget.