5 things to know BEFORE you see The Hills of California
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- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2024
- If you've seen Jez Butterworth and Sam Mendes creating magic before, then The Hills of California is a must-see on the West End for you! But there's more to this emotionally taxing story...
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TIMESTAMPS 🕰️
0:00 - About the play
1:39 - A long play
2:26 - A play with musical elements (but not a musical!)
3:09 - Trigger warning
4:28 - Emotionally taxing
5:01 - The embarrassing bit
6:35 - Overall impressions
Official website: hillsofcaliforniaplay.com/
#theatre #london #westend 
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The Hills of California got nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Play, alongside some other amazing shows which I talk about in this video: ruclips.net/video/Hld8PVG7ZEg/видео.htmlsi=N2wCez78KOzMiAHS 🏆🎭
I’ve seen over 300 shows plays and musicals. Not many people have seen that many but my programmes count plus the extra shows I don’t have programmes / playbills for. This is in my top 5 PLAYS I’ve seen ❤
Oh wow! Firstly so impressive you've seen over 300 shows and plays, that's amazing! 😍 and am so glad to hear you enjoyed this play! ☺
I saw it yesterday and really liked it. Strong acting and beautiful script.
So glad to hear that! It’s a really powerful show. ☺️
I saw this two weeks ago with a theatre group from Oregon (we saw eight plays in six days), and we all loved this. It is truly a "well-made play." When you know that sisters gather around a dying parent, you should be ready for trauma and secrets. I'm with Judi Densch--no trigger warnings! The story is not new, and the secrets are not new, but they are brutal, and you have a playwright, director, and cast all working at the very top of their game. The juvenile actresses are particularly good. The script isn't perfect--what are those teenagers doing on stage in the 1970s sections?--and maybe it's a few minutes too long, but our group was surprised when the interval came because we all were so engaged in the story. Yes, it has that Mama Rose tinge along with notes from August: Osage County, but when a story is well told by a fantastic cast you should always expect a great night at the theatre.
8 plays in 6 days? That sounds incredible! What else did you see? ☺I'm so glad to hear that you've enjoyed this show! It is pretty impressive and a good (albeit long) watch!
@@KristinaEmilyOfficial I miscounted--I saw nine in total, some by myself, most with the group. Opening Night (Sheridan Smith was a revelation--I didn't know who she was--but the play was a mess) Guys and Dolls (outstanding), Hadestown (almost outstanding), London Tide (major disappointment because I'm a Dickens scholar), The Mousetrap (for the third time, because it's a great example of that kind of play), The Divine Mrs. Siddons (okay), Standing at the Sky's Edge (it didn't work for me, but most of my group loved it), Player Kings (Ian McKellen was fantastic and Joheeb Jimoh held his own with Sir Ian), and Nye (a riveting play about the founding of the National Health Service--yes, it was). This was my fifth trip with a group from Portland. Nothing this trip, however, compared with The Ferryman, which was probably the best play I have seen in ten years--pre-COVID I was seeing about 50 a year.
@@cwilson284 that’s absolutely incredible! You’ve seen some fantastic shows and some that are less so - Opening night has been widely considered a flop! Ahh The Ferryman was one for a kind, such powerful storytelling! Hope you come to London again to enjoy the West End! ☺️
I saw this the other night and still don't know what to make of it. The first half act didn't quite settle for me and parts of it felt like Coronation Street, then the second really packed a punch. The entrance of adult Joan towards the end, with the jukebox playing, was a memorable moment, but after that it petered out and the ending was quite contrived. It was a real curate's egg of a play. I think it's best to go into it not knowing anything because we were all squirming in the theatre when we saw where it was going.
That was such a great scene! But yes I agree with you that it is a bit of a mixed bag at moments. I did enjoy it overall tho and definitely happy I didn’t know much about it when I went to see it.
I got unwell & had to leave just after adult Joan came on! Can u tell me what happened? What in a nutshell she said? Hv to admit I was bored & not that impressed apart from the mothers great performance, didn't help I ws ill , but wondered if the end ws decent after all the endless waffle
Great review 😊 I saw it tonight and really enjoyed. I got on the day rush tickets and was on the second row. I thought the acting was great I did feel the ending was a little rushed and could have been better. The smoking gave me a headache though 😭
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it ☺️ oh no! Someone else in the comments said that too - I haven’t had that issue as I was further away in the grand circle, I think. They gotta sort that smoke out.
I was in Row D last night - genuinely nauseous by the end of Act 3, between the heat and the herbal cigarette smoke - I was worried I was just being dramatic!
@@seanoneill2541 nope you weren't being dramatic at all. It was a lot‼️
How did you not mention the smoking that takes place. When I went, half the theatre was coughing and complaining afterwards of red eyes. Otherwise, an excellent play!
Oh really? Where were you sitting? I don’t remember having an issue with that tbh but probably depends on the proximity to the stage. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
@@KristinaEmilyOfficial We were sitting quite close. Row H in the Stalls. The first few times it wasn't a problem (and actually added to the authenticity), but got progressively worse in the 2nd/3rd acts. The acting was outstanding. The men (w/ the exception of the Hollywood agent) all added a wonderful degree of comic relief.
Saw it earlier this evening. Nabbed a stalls Row D rush seat. First thing I did when I got home was to change and give my hair a quick rinse to wash the smoke out. We did have an incident where one man was coughing quite heavily for some time during the second act, but it sounded worse than just smoke irritation. Anyhow, very powerful, really loved it. Highly recommended, but this really is the one show where good stalls seats are a minus.
Oh my goodness I thought it was just me who thought that about the smoking. I got on the day rush tickets and was in the second row and whilst I enjoyed the play I had a headache when I left. The smoking was too much. The lady next to me had a coughing fit 😭
Yes my ex just saw it last night and sat halfway back and said the smoking ruined the show for her, she said the stench and coughing was revolting, I have no idea how the reviewer didn’t notice the worst aspect of the show 😬
Ooops ! Yeah bit long at 3 hours including interval etc, and people didn’t know what to do with themselves during the ‘brief pause’ 😃 loved how the set rotated and the stairs line up with different rooms etc. kids were better singers than the adults when I went and the jokes from one of the blokes were so bad they make you laugh 👍
Agree! It was an awkward break that took a bit longer than expected during the performance I went to see. But yes the set was really good and kids were so talented! 🙂
Many thanks for the warning of the 7pm start. I have a ticket for this in May and had it on my calendar for 7.30. I usually try to arrive 30 minutes before the performance starts to allow for travel delays but even so that could have been cutting it fine.
@@anneupton7776 ah so glad it helped you! I hope you enjoy the play. ☺️
The adult characters aren't supposed to be as good at singing as their younger incarnations. The idea is that they have barely (if ever) sung either together or at all since the 1950s. So glad you enjoyed the show, though.
@@HoneyGirlAatNo9 of course! that totally makes sense...I did get goosebumps when they sang at the end, it was so emotional.
I got a tickets because my step mum and dad couldnt make the performance due to personal matters. I have to say I thought it was well acted and directed but appallingly written. My friend fell asleep and I was annoyed I didnt, especially in the second act. All the sisters were just bloody awful, I wanted them to get a bloody grip.
Ahh sorry to hear you haven’t enjoyed it that much. It’s a very long play so they could’ve definitely tightened it up a bit. Good that there were some elements you enjoyed tho!
Olly Alexander Eurovision
Forget to mention the accent!!! If u are not native British Lime me. U won’t understand 79% of the play! Furthermore the very long end part o the show. When Joan returns it is the same same same old story. Seen gazillion times
Wish they had subtitles
Well……
YESSSS! This is a great point that I have completely overlooked. The accent is STRONG so I think for a non native English speaker or even English speaker who isn't used to that accent it could be hard to understand.
Good grief, what a world in which you have to put trigger warnings in case of *tense* emotional content
It's more from the perspective of what to expect as when I went to see the play I couldn't find much about it since it's so new, and honestly I didn't know it will be that heavy.
too long and basically GYPSY
It is definitely long! And yes, that’s a very good point regarding Gypsy…haven’t thought about it as I’m not close to that musical but the storyline sounds similar.
I fail to understand why you find it necessary to point out most of these things to the average intelligent theatre goer? Why would we be ‘thrown off’ as you put it by music in the show? Why do we need a ‘trigger warning’ about emotional issues??? Isn’t emotional response the whole point of theatre and the creative arts? And as for looking the time of the performance up in advance…..FFS!!! Patronising and ridiculous post