Following their triumphant production of The Ferryman, Tony®-winning Playwright Jez Butterworth and Oscar and Tony-winning Director Sam Mendes reunite for The Hills of California.
In the sweltering heat of a 1970s summer, the Webb sisters return to their childhood home in Blackpool, an English seaside town, where their mother Veronica lies dying upstairs. Gloria and Ruby now have families of their own. Jill never left. And Joan? No one’s heard from her in twenty years… but Jill insists that their mother’s favorite won’t let them down this time.
The run-down Sea View Guest House is haunted by bittersweet memories of amusement park rides and overdue bills. Back in the 1950s, each night the girls rehearse their singing act, managed by their fiercely loving single mom. But when a record producer offers a shot at fame and a chance to escape, it will cost them all dearly.
But this is no standard-issue dysfunctional family drama; it’s also a meticulously crafted, emotion-packed memory play. With one rotation of Rob Howell’s spectacular towering set—anchored by a labyrinthian Escher-like staircase that seems to stretch to the sky—we’re back in 1955, in the Seaview Luxury Guesthouse and Spa, which is not luxurious and almost certainly doesn’t have a spa. Hills toggles between decades with ease—a credit to director Sam Mendes, whose particular gift is taking sprawling stories (see: Butterworth’s The Ferryman; The Lehman Trilogy) and making them feel intimate.
This is not the kind of play that brandishes a singular sharp point; it is the kind that swaddles you in innumerable impressions. Like Butterworth’s previous Broadway outings — the mythopoetic “Jerusalem” in 2011, the brawny Hugh Jackman vehicle “The River” in 2014 and especially the Irish fable “The Ferryman” in 2018 — “The Hills of California” is a yarn, not a lesson; a tale, not a tract. It resists interpretation, possibly as a way of resisting criticism, which, despite its flaws, it clearly does with great success.
| 2024 | West End |
West End |
| 2024 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play | Laura Donnelly |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play | Rob Howell |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Rob Howell |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | Sam Mendes |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play | Laura Donnelly |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design | Natasha Chivers |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | The Hills of California |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design | Rob Howell |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Rob Howell |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Sam Mendes |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Natasha Chivers |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Laura Donnelly |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Rob Howell |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Nick Powell |
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