The Hills of California review: Jez Butterworth’s drama is rich but unconvincing

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The Hills of California review: Jez Butterworth’s drama is rich but unconvincing
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  • 📰 i newspaper
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 47 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 22%
  • Publisher: 89%

This family story has its flaws, but the West End is better for its presence

It is certainly something to celebrate when a new play opens directly into the West End – and without star name billing on stage to underpin ticket sales.. At the shabby Sea View Guest House – slight catch: there’s no view of the sea – three adult sisters gather as their mother lies dying upstairs .

Jill is the drab and loyal one who has stayed at home unmarried, Ruby is glamorous but anxious while Gloria exists in a permanent swelter of rage. There is sceptical talk about whether long-absent sister Joan will make it home from the States in time for their mother’s last breath.

I remain unconvinced by the pivotal plot moment and the explanations, or lack thereof, of its ramifications down the years on all the sisters. Too big a suspension of disbelief is required to accept that so immense a secret could have been kept in a family once so tightknit. Donnelly is magnificent as Veronica, a strict single mother with intriguing moral grey areas, who runs the Sea View like a cross between a detention facility and Butlin’s. She blazes throughout, while Wilson, an actress I have long admired, simmers beautifully, suggesting all of the possibly agoraphobic Jill’s love, loyalty and stunted life chances.

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