Playwright Jez Butterworth and Director Sam Mendes have one thing in common - Tony Awards! The powerhouse duo earned an Olivier for their work on The Ferryman, and return to reap more acclaim with The Hills Of California, a scorching summer story set in the 70s.

The Webb sisters reunite in their Blackpool childhood home, but this isn't just any old get-together. As their mother lies dying upstairs, one question remains, will the sister who hasn't shown her face in over 20 years finally come home? Following its smash-hit West End debut, The Hills Of California opened at Broadhurst Theatre on September 29, 2024, and the reviews are as warm as a day on the seaside.

Critic Reviews For The Hills Of California

"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." - The New York Times

"In the British playwright's expert hands, the nearly three-hour tragicomedy never feels indulgent; the rich texture of the world Butterworth builds is our payoff." - Broadway News

"It's in that long, almost serialized air that Hills best breathes: when, as in a soap, your attention is enthralled by the bigger picture." - Theaterley

"While the play is an ensemble effort, it is also an extraordinary showcase for Donnelly. The present here is haunted by the past, and the two collide powerfully in the wreckage and reckoning of the play's third act. (Butterworth has rewritten it for the better from the version that played in London.)" - Time Out

"You can tell that 10 of the actors (including the four adult sisters and their younger counterparts) have been doing the play for six months already, and their performances are now detailed and lived-in. They're aided by Howell's costumes (which perfectly establish period and social status), chilling lighting from Natasha Chivers, and positively ghostly sound design by Nick Powell." - Theatermania

"A superbly performed reckoning with old traumas and those family squabbles that can seem so petty on the surface."" - Deadline

"Ultimately, it is the cast that makes the Seaview memorable. The play is a true ensemble showcase, with the adult sisters and their younger counterparts hitting all the stops... Butterworth's portrayal of grief and the memories people choose to remember and forget is moving, and worth checking into the Seaview (the Broadhurst Theatre) to experience." - New York Theatre Guide

"Hills" has an appealing haunted atmosphere, even if the ghosts aren't specters, but traumas. And in its dreamy third act, the play distinguishes itself from the many, many dramas about kids caught in the web of their parent's pipe dream." - New York Post

"Jez Butterworth's ambitious, captivating and richly rewarding domestic drama "The Hills of California" straddles dual worlds of dreams and reality as it shuttles between two pivotal time periods in the lives of the Webb women." - Vulture

"The Hills of California does not necessarily venture to any places that dysfunctional family drama has not tread before, but the switching-back-and-forth-between-decades structure coupled with a commanding and versatile centerpiece performance by Donnelly still make these hills worth climbing." - Entertainment Weekly

"Sam Mendes' direction delivers that stunning moment by making perfect use of Rob Howell's cold, spooky and monumental set. In addition to giving us Donnelly's great performance, Mendes makes us believe the four adolescent actors are real sisters." - The Wrap