The Hothouse at Antaeus Theater

The Hothouse

Antaeus Theater
110 E. Broadway Glendale

Harold Pinter's The Hothouse tells a blisteringly funny story of a government-run institution in which the wardens may be more mad than the patients. Filled with the Nobel Prize-winning writer's biting political commentary on the perils of unchecked power, the battle for control results in absurdly comedic mayhem at the Antaeus Theatre Company in Glendale.

Thru - Mar 11, 2018

Price: $34

Show Type: Comedy

Box Office: 818-506-1983

www.antaeus.org/

The Hothouse Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended

"...Director Nike Doukas keeps things moving at an admirable pace. The staging is always effective, as is Se Hyun Oh's scenic design, Ginevra Lombardo's lighting design, and Jeff Gardner's sound design. Yet I wish Doukas had taken Pinter's acidity and anger a step further in some places, more in line with the tone that I'm given to understand Pinter intended. There's a moment when Roote luridly reveals his first-hand knowledge of the patient who has given birth, then, when asked what is to be done about the infant, he snaps, "Get rid of it." Here, the line gets a laugh. I suspect it might be more effective as a punch in the gut."

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- Samuel Garza Bernstein

Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended

"...The nuts are running the nuthouse in the darkly comedic, rarely performed Harold Pinter gem that is the latest from Antaeus Theatre Company, written when Pinter was a mere twenty-seven but shelved till he turned fifty, and perhaps more than any other partner-cast Antaeus gem before it, one that truly merits a second visit."

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- Steven Stanley

On Stage Los Angeles - Highly Recommended

"...Director Nike Doukas's "Ducks" cast finds a comfortable and realistic ground of British accents. The play's crisp pace has an undertaste of cruelty, which may be the whole point. Roote (Peter Van Noorden) is the doughty director of the .. what shall we call it.. asylum? The Home? He rails and is confused. Subtly, Gibbs (Graham Hamilton) has his eye on things, mostly clever self-preservation. Cutts (blonde, pert and pointy Joycelyn Towne) enjoys time with almost anyone who can keep her 'satisfied.' The ambiguity of who's who as the story unfolds introduces us to Lamb (hapless JD Cullum) and Lush (bombastic Rob Nagle). Moving us through a mystery of whom the father of a baby boy born to an inmate might be, as well as the death of 6457: another confusing and unhappy chapter in a day at The Hothouse. It's Christmas, for Christ's sake!"

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Stage Raw - Highly Recommended

"...Director Nike Doukas serves Pinter's play brilliantly, getting pitch-perfect work from her ensemble, and using the combination of Ginevra Lombardo's lighting and Jeff Gardner's sound to create a mood of continuing unease. One scene in particular, toward the play's end, employs these two designs in a powerful and memorable way."

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- Terry Morgan

On Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended

"...It is a shame that the more interesting aspects of the piece are glossed over and left to simmer under the surface while great emphasis is put on heavy-handed humor and metaphors. Even the title, The Hothouse, is cheekily and repeatedly referenced by Roote, sweating as he drinks copiously, despite it being the middle of winter. It suffers from referencing more compelling storylines that are happening offstage, while going in circles in uneventful, overwritten scenes onstage. Unless this very specific style of humor happens to suit your sensibilities, you may find yourself wondering if Pinter's initial instinct to leave this one in the drawer was correct."

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- Erin Conley

Peoples World - Recommended

"...Crisply directed by Nike Doukas, the cast enunciates the "Pinteresque" dialogue to chilling effect, a manner of speech that seems jagged and oddly ambivalent, repetition and hesitation deconstructing meaning as we go along. It sounds almost improvisational. Small talk and ironic understatement fill in with subservient politeness the menacing holes in the social compact."

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- Eric A. Gordon

The Hothouse Photo Gallery

The Hothouse at Antaeus Theater

The Hothouse

The Hothouse Reviews

Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended

Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended

On Stage Los Angeles - Highly Recommended

Stage Raw - Highly Recommended

On Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended

Peoples World - Recommended

The Hothouse Photo Gallery

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