04 Dec TIO NYC: The “Hills” Are Alive – But Only If You Speak Yorkshire!
For our last cultural hit in NYC, we headed to the hills, Jez Butterworth’s “Hills of California,” which were alive – but with the sounds of Yorkshire, England, laid on as thick as molasses. So the moving domestic drama about sibling rivalry, family grief, and the sine curve that is life in general got more than a bit lost in translation. Bottom line: Great if tough story, but those accents were a curious choice by the director, Oscar and Tony-winner Sam Mendes, for a playwright world-renowned for his unique voice in contemporary theatre.
“The Hills of California” – the title comes from a 1948 song by Johnny Mercer, which includes the lyrics “The hills of California are waiting for you'” – is set in the summer of 1976 at the Sea View Guest House in Blackpool, England; also in flashbacks to 1955. There the Webb sisters – Jill, Ruby, Gloria, and the estranged Joan – are forced to confront past secrets and betrayals while waiting for their mother, Veronica, to die.
Yes the play is gripping – particularly the climactic audition scene – even through the fog of the dialog. And, in the end, it is also masterclass in grief, the result of dark humor and the devastating losses at the heart of the story. However, sad but true, other writers and theatergoers with perfectly sound hearing have noted they too had trouble deciphering the exchanges, especially in the first act. Also true, the pops of pop standards lighten that load: we are talking Andrews Sisters hits, also Johnny Mercer and Richard Rogers. Pauses that refreshed.
For us, subtitles would have helped to understand what was unfolding on the boards. But evidently Jesse Green of TheNew York Times, disagrees. Read his review for a different spin.
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