The Hills of California - Harold Pinter Theatre

[mrbarnaby]

Jun 16, 2024 14:46:00 GMT seanathan said:

I saw this back in April on a pretty good theatre roulette ticket (Row D stalls), with no idea who Jez Butterworth was. Enjoyed the play a lot more than I expected - the synopsis really didn't make it sound like my cup of tea, but the acting was brilliant, singing equally so, and I had a good time. I thought the set was great, fun use of height, especially with the end of act 2.

Like others, I did find it a bit on the long side. I'm not sure if anyone else has had issues here, but in Row D, the sheer quantity of herbal cigarette smoke had me nauseous by the time bows came around.

Agree. For the first time ever I left feeling sick due to the herbal cigs they smoked almost constantly. Just disgusting.

[dgd]

Saw this June 12th matinée. Dated my now wife whilst working in Blackpool in the Heat of 76.  I do not think this very enjoyable play is a masterpiece and the references to a hot Blackpool and 70s products are quite shallow.  I kept thi king of Gypsy in a Lancashire accent. The performances were splendid but the highlight for me were the number of beautifully sung close harmony tunes crowned with my favourite It Never EnteredMy Mind. 

[theatreliker]

Opens in New York today. Apparently the play has been substantially rewritten and Donnelly's character Joan in act 3 is a completely different version of the sister.
Gifted:
Laura Donnelly, ‘Hills of California’ Star, Is Not Some Delicate Flower www.nytimes.com/2024/09/28/theater/laura-donnelly-hills-of-california-broadway.html?unlocked_article_code=1.OU4.EpK_.4J5ljzRBK1r8

[Rory]

Interesting. Will be keen to read about the changes. I thought this was really entertaining in London, I enjoyed it a lot, but I wonder if they just couldn't quite achieve what they wanted?

It was an unusual move to change the poster art half-way through the run, and the Broadway poster is very different again from both of the West End posters.

[flouise]

Everything I've heard from the Broadway production has been overwhelmingly positive - I hadn't thought that the American audience would like the Joan character so I'm not surprised to hear that she's been re-written. I'm very intrigued to hear more about the changes!

[alessia]

very curious too, I wonder what the changes are.

[aspieandy]

Sept 29, 2024 12:31:29 GMT alessia said:

very curious too, I wonder what the changes are.

She already had a positive immigrant story (overall), I would imagine it will now be better defined and more positive.

Maybe change the rock music intro to a US artist.

fwiw, I thought leaving the baby with a sister was a very good twist (if we assumed she had gone home to see her mother). That's a migrant experience if ever there was one.

[kate8]

I loved the play but the ending wasn’t entirely satisfying, so I’d love to know how it’s been changed. I wonder if she decides to see their mother?

[alessia]

Sept 29, 2024 13:57:23 GMT kate8 said:

I loved the play but the ending wasn’t entirely satisfying, so I’d love to know how it’s been changed. I wonder if she decides to see their mother?

Yes I think so too. it does sound like the third act and that character were almost totally rewritten. Maybe there won't even be a baby. 

[aspieandy]

absolute sob fest if, just in time, the baby is taken to, and held by, granny ..

[jaggy]

I believe the whole baby subplot is removed and now Joan makes some sort of attempt to visit her mother by going up the stairs. The other sisters beg her to carry on but she turns back down. 

These are just two changes that I've heard. 

[sph]

Sept 29, 2024 14:28:41 GMT jaggy said:

I believe the whole baby subplot is removed and now Joan makes some sort of attempt to visit her mother by going up the stairs. The other sisters beg her to carry on but she turns back down. 

These are just two changes that I've heard. 

Wow, removing the baby story is a much bigger change than I was expecting.

I wonder if they've removed any of the Blackpool-isms for the American audience? It's not an especially well-known place to them!

[duncan]

Removing the baby seems odd - it signals to us how selfish she is, she doesn't care about the baby she just cares that she has found someone to fob it off onto so her own self absorbed life can continue.

The whole play essentially leads up to Joan being outed as a truly horrible person to her sisters (the audience) and removing that does seem like kneecapping the plot and motivation of the entire thing.

[aspieandy]

Box office decision. It's  different play.

Cop-out. Harold Pinter theatre my ar$e. This is Brookside.

[Being Alive]

I don't know as I thought Joan was a truly horrible person when I saw this - she's incredibly messed up as a result of the abuse she suffered as a child no?

[kate8]

Sept 29, 2024 15:06:30 GMT Being Alive said:

I don't know as I thought Joan was a truly horrible person when I saw this - she's incredibly messed up as a result of the abuse she suffered as a child no?

Yes, that’s how I saw it too, that she’s so traumatised it’s distanced her from being able to feel ‘normal’ emotions.

[Latecomer]

Quite amusing that we all had different opinions about Joan…I thought she was leaving the baby as she realised her own flaws and had the baby’s best interests in mind! I also thought she was incredibly mature about her sister having a different view on the memory of the “event” that caused her to leave….it didn’t really matter what the truth was, as each of them had believed their own “truth” for so long that it was real to them. This actually made me far more empathetic to my own sister (who I sometimes struggle with) as it is true….there is often no point in arguing the finer details of a “he said, she said” situation….better to look at the motivation behind it…so my sister may have been wrong but was she trying to be a pain? Was she trying to help? One of the times when a play has made my life better!
The most interesting thing about this play is that no-one blames the abuser. No-one.
The second most interesting thing is that all the men are plot devices or not important….hahaha! Nice change! A play about women.

[theatreliker]

I'm not sure I believed she'd been in America all that time

[alessia]

Sept 29, 2024 18:13:29 GMT theatreliker said:

I'm not sure I believed she'd been in America all that time

good point. I agree. I got the impression she was bigging up her past life to her sister. 

[duncan]

Sept 29, 2024 15:06:30 GMT Being Alive said:

I don't know as I thought Joan was a truly horrible person when I saw this - she's incredibly messed up as a result of the abuse she suffered as a child no?

I read it as having been set up beforehand that she was already experienced in certain ways and used the sexual interest in her to her own advantage and that even if the Mother hadn't essentially prostituted her out that Joan would have found some way to leave and set up on her own.  Even as a "child" Joan is clearly only interested in herself, which to me is why years later she leaves the baby, it will be nothing but a drag on her lifestyle.

I also didn't think she had been to America as it at least explained why the accent was so terrible 

[viscountviktor]

So what is the change in plot for Broadway?

[fclou]

I read that there is no baby

[Being Alive]

Oct 15, 2024 18:05:49 GMT fclou said:

I read that there is no baby

Correct

[Rory]

I think that ditching the baby storyline is a good move.
It was the only bit that felt a bit contrived to me.