★★★★

“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.

IT’S HEADED STRAIGHT TOWARDS US at the Park Theatre

★★★★★

“Hound and West are outstanding”

Imagine your greatest enemy. Now, imagine being trapped in an actor’s trailer with them. That’s on a moving glacier. That’s on the side of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull. That’s erupting.

‘Disaster comedy’ It’s Headed Straight Towards Us – written by Adrian Edmondson and Nigel Planer and directed by Rachel Kavanaugh – presents just this scenario. Gary Savage (Rufus Hound) and Hugh Delavois (Samuel West) are bitter rivals. From drama school through to their acting careers, the pair have always clashed; the former, a drunken, grouchy Hollywood wash-up; the latter, a neurotic, bit part actor nicknamed ‘Custard Man’ after an unfortunate incident in front of Alan Bennett which went viral online. To their horror, they are both set to star in the film Vulcan 7, before an avalanche halts filming and separates them from the rest of the cast and crew.

Trapped with 21-year-old runner and self-proclaimed seismologist Leela (Nenda Neururer), they are forced to confront their historic animosity as their situation becomes more and more perilous.

Hound and West are outstanding. Their constant bickering is utterly believable whilst also being brilliantly funny. Their quips and jabs at each other range from silly to deeply cruel and you never know what will come out next. Digs are made at sexual promiscuity, failed fatherhood, embarrassing career moments, just to name a few. The only thing of which they are in agreement is a hatred of Daniel Day Lewis.

We get to know our two leads intimately. Their deepest anxieties, greatest regrets, and dwindling hopes for the future. Though both completely unlikeable at first, we feel real pathos for our sparring (failing) actors, especially in the second half and the final scenes. Props also to Hound who spends the first hour in a heavy latex costume designed by Wendy Olver.

“our great attachment to Gary and Hugh is in no small part to the strong acting and clever script”

Neururer does well to balance the warring duo with her youthful eagerness and naivety. Her character is also the only one linked to activities outside the trailer via her headset and thus provides significant exposition and forward motion in the plot. The only slightly confusing element of the narrative is that it takes place in less than 24 hours – these two characters who so vehemently hate each other are very quick to get vulnerable. However, considering the unique space of the actor’s trailer, the claustrophobia of their situation, and some rather wonderful acting, this rapid opening up seems perfectly natural.

The set (designed by Michael Taylor) is really quite brilliant. We see the inside of a large trailer – there is a table with seating to the left, a sofa and pouffe in the centre, and a small bathroom on the right. All this sits atop a moving floor that rocks, jitters, and tilts as the tremors worsen. The trailer door leads to the back of the stage – there is no back wall, so any approaching character is seen. Snow – in the form of small pieces of white paper – falls along the front edge of the stage in a few scenes creating a pleasant effect.

The set is further enhanced by the impressive lighting designed by Mark Doubleday. Behind the stage is a large screen that reaches from floor to ceiling. The calming hues of the first half are soon replaced with angry reds – the mood of the natural world and the desperation of our characters expressed perfectly. Eerie sounds that evoke a certain natural mysticism play between scenes to further remind us of the power of the volcanic mound (Fergus O’Hare).

It’s Headed Straight Towards Us is an intimate exploration of hate and regret. Our two characters are inextricably linked whether they like it or not and they find a strange comfort in their familiarity with each other. Moreover, our great attachment to Gary and Hugh is in no small part to the strong acting and clever script. A play thoroughly worth seeing.

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

IT’S HEADED STRAIGHT TOWARDS US at the Park Theatre

★★★★★

“Hound and West are outstanding”

“our great attachment to Gary and Hugh is in no small part to the strong acting and clever script”