HIR at the Park Theatre

★★★★

“Felicity Huffman making her UK stage debut is mesmeric as Paige”

HIR pronounced “here” is a story about place, and in Pulitzer and Tony-nominee Taylor Mac’s darkly absurdist play it is about home, in this shockingly good production. The brilliant cast is led by the multi award winning American actress Felicity Huffman.

The prodigal son, Isaac (Steffan Cennydd) returns home from the Afghan war. Home is the place that Isaac couldn’t wait to leave when he joined the marines. Home is the place he sent dead soldiers back to in a box. Home is the place he dreamt about, and home is the place he is desperate to return to. But everything about his home is different.

Not him, not her, but hir is the preferred gender pronoun of his teenage younger sister, Max (Thalía Dudek), who is no longer his sister but his transgender / genderqueer sibling. His father (Simon Startin) is no longer his abusive father, but a dribbling stroke victim in a nightie, with a clown face and neon pink wig. And his mother (Huffman), who calls Isaac simply I, has become a not so batty, woke and merciless woman. Their quickfire chat and actions in this claustrophobic home knows no bounds as they try to look to a future.

Felicity Huffman making her UK stage debut is mesmeric as Paige from the moment the lights go up on their filthy, messy, shabby box of a house, menacingly built over landfill. Making her husband “shut the door” is torturous, made hilarious by the amount of times Huffman can make those three words sound so different. Paige’s deep set and sadistic revenge cruelty on her now pathetic husband is at times monstrous; as Huffman sprays him with a water bottle, like he is a disobedient dog, but still you laugh – to begin with. Huffman’s timing is faultless.

“more than yet another play about a dysfunctional family”

The cast play their roles with absolute conviction as: toxic masculinity, identity, mental illness, PTSD, raging hormones, disability, gender fluidity, emasculation, abuse and drugs, somehow all get their moment without being preachy in this firecracker four hander.

Thalía Dudek as the titular Hir is all testosterone and bravado, as hir convincingly proves that the Mona Lisa is transgender. Dudek also shows the character’s vulnerability and desperation to have hir brother’s traditionally masculine approval, again as the audience laughs – to begin with.

Masterfully directed by Steven Kunis who brings Hir to life, making it more than yet another play about a dysfunctional family. Hir might not quite have the shock value regarding identity, that Taylor Mac intended, when it first opened nearly a decade ago, but it still packs a punch. Set and costume designer Ceci Calf creates an extraordinary theatrical moment at the end of act one as the set closes ranks, as the 1960s pop song Little Boxes plays. And let’s not forget the hard working stage management team, who have a massive change to handle during the interval.

There’s no place like home but in Hir everything and everyone is broken.

HIR at the Park Theatre

Reviewed on 21st February 2024

by Debbie Rich

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

LEAVES OF GLASS | ★★★★ | January 2024

KIM’S CONVENIENCE | ★★★★ | January 2024

21 ROUND FOR CHRISTMAS | ★★★★ | December 2023

THE TIME MACHINE – A COMEDY | ★★★★ | December 2023

IKARIA | ★★★★ | November 2023

PASSING | ★★★½ | November 2023

THE INTERVIEW | ★★★ | November 2023

IT’S HEADED STRAIGHT TOWARDS US | ★★★★★ | September 2023

SORRY WE DIDN’T DIE AT SEA | ★★½ | September 2023

THE GARDEN OF WORDS | ★★★ | August 2023

BONES | ★★★★ | July 2023

PAPER CUT | ★★½ | June 2023

HIR

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

★★★

“The show feels like it’s sailing in unchartered waters, which is a shame as it deserves better.”

Jason Robert Brown’s song cycle Songs For A New World shows the power of music in storytelling. Each of the seemingly unconnected songs, introduce us to a new character telling their micro story about a pivotal moment in each of their lives.

The cast of four open the show with the song, The New World, full of hope and the promise of a new world calling to them. The cycle moves to On The Deck Of A Spanish Sailing Ship 1482, and they sing of adventure, excitement and passion, as they literally sail to the new world. Then quickly the songs start to descend through stories of dashed hopes, lives missed and love lost.

Songs For A New World was Tony Award winning composer Brown’s 1995 musical debut, and his musicality, storytelling and genius for anthemic powerhouse songs are all there for the taking. The prolific contemporary composer and lyricist went on to write the generation defining The Last Five Years and the sublime Parade.

Songs For A New World is not a perfect musical, and the sixteen songs have wide ranging stories, locations and settings as each of the characters go through a life changing experience. It is with the final song, Hear My Song, that this abstract song cycle joins together by telling us to listen to each other’s stories to help you make choices:

“Hear my song – it was made for the times when you don’t know where to go. Listen to the song that I sing. You’ll be fine”.

However, in this production, director Kai Wright, makes the characters all appear slightly self-obsessed. He treats the songs as set pieces and the audience isn’t given the opportunity to feel a sense of journey. The show feels like it’s sailing in unchartered waters, which is a shame as it deserves better.

Eleanore Frances, with the best numbers, stands out as Woman 2. She grabs every moment in her songs, which includes high comedy in Just One Step, as a rich wife who is about to jump off the ledge of her 57th floor apartment to make a point to her cheating husband; to a full out Brecht and Weill torch song parody with Surabaya-Santa, as a Mrs Claus left alone with just the elves; via the stand out Stars and the Moon which is probably the best known song in the show.

The musical postcard drops in on Woman 1, Lizzy Parker, who gives heart to Christmas Lullaby as a young girl alone in the world discovering she is pregnant. Luke Walsh, as Man 1, looks like he is permanently in pain as he goes for the high riffs – which he actually sings well, particularly in Steam Train.

Kudos goes to musical director Liam Holmes at the piano with his glorious fellow musicians (two violins, cello, bass guitar and drums) who were on fire, especially at the end of the show, with no voices over them, they gave it large – a fantastic end to the evening.

HIR at the Park Theatre

★★★★

“Felicity Huffman making her UK stage debut is mesmeric as Paige”

“more than yet another play about a dysfunctional family”

HIR at the Park Theatre

Reviewed on 21st February 2024

by Debbie Rich

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

HIR

HIR

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD at Upstairs at the Gatehouse

★★★

“The show feels like it’s sailing in unchartered waters, which is a shame as it deserves better.”

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD at Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Reviewed on 8th February 2024

by Debbie Rich

Photography by Clarissa Debenham

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD