The Hothouse
Encyclopedia
The Hothouse is a full-length tragicomedy
written by Harold Pinter
in the winter of 1958 between The Birthday Party
(1957) and The Caretaker
(1959). After writing The Hothouse in the winter of 1958 and following the initial commercial failure of The Birthday Party, Pinter put the play aside; in 1979 he re-read it and directed its first production, at Hampstead Theatre
, where it opened on 24 April 1980, transferring to the Ambassadors Theatre on 25 June 1980, and it was first published, also in 1980, by Eyre Methuen. Pinter himself played Roote in a subsequent production staged at the Minerva Theatre
, in Chichester
, in 1995, later transferring to the Comedy Theatre, in London.
; its black comedy
and absurdism
exposing hierarchical power structures anticipate Pinter's later more overtly political dramatic sketches and plays, such as "The New World Order" (1983), One for the Road (1984), and Mountain Language
(1988).
"First presented at Hampstead Theatre, London, on 24 April 1980 and transferred to the Ambassador Theatre, London on 25 June 1980"; directed by Harold Pinter
Cast:
Other theatre personnel:
American premiere
The American premiere was directed by Adrian Hall at the Trinity Repertory Company
for its 1981-1982 season and transferred to the Playhouse Theatre
in New York City
, from 30 April through 30 May 1982, produced by Arthur Cantor
Associates. Richard Kavanaugh, who played Gibbs, was nominated for "Best Performance By A Featured Actor" at the 36th Tony Awards
in 1982.
Cast:
Other theatre personnel:
London revival
A revival of The Hothouse, directed by Ian Rickson
, with a cast including Stephen Moore
(Roote), Lia Williams
(Miss Cutts), and Henry Woolf
(Tubb), was staged in the Lyttelton at the Royal National Theatre
, London, from 11 July to 27 October 2007.
Pinter, Harold
. The Hothouse: A Play by Harold Pinter. New York: Grove Press (Distributed by Random House
), 1980. ISBN 0394513959.
Tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood.-Classical...
written by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
in the winter of 1958 between The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (play)
The Birthday Party is the first full-length play by Harold Pinter and one of Pinter's best-known and most-frequently performed plays...
(1957) and The Caretaker
The Birthday Party (play)
The Birthday Party is the first full-length play by Harold Pinter and one of Pinter's best-known and most-frequently performed plays...
(1959). After writing The Hothouse in the winter of 1958 and following the initial commercial failure of The Birthday Party, Pinter put the play aside; in 1979 he re-read it and directed its first production, at Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...
, where it opened on 24 April 1980, transferring to the Ambassadors Theatre on 25 June 1980, and it was first published, also in 1980, by Eyre Methuen. Pinter himself played Roote in a subsequent production staged at the Minerva Theatre
Minerva Theatre, Chichester
The Minerva Theatre is a studio theatre seating at full capacity 283. It is run as part of the adjacent Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, and was opened in 1989...
, in Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
, in 1995, later transferring to the Comedy Theatre, in London.
Setting
The play is set in an institution whose nature is subject to interpretation; throughout the play, it is ambiguously referred to as both a "rest home" and a "sanitorium" but its "residents" or "patients" are designated anonymously by numbers, not by their names.Plot
The professionalism and even sanity of the institution's director, Roote, are undermined by his subordinates: the efficient and ambitious Gibbs, the aptly named alcoholic Lush, and Miss Cutts, Roote's calculating and shrewd mistress who is also involved with Gibbs. After the reported murder of one patient and the rape and resulting pregnancy of another, Roote orders Gibbs to find the perpetrator(s), who it appears is Roote himself, and Gibbs supplants his boss as administrator of the corrupt "rest home", whose inmates converge upon the staff, resulting in mayhem.List of characters
- Roote, a man in his fifties
- Gibbs, a man in his thirties
- Lush, a man in his thirties
- Miss Cutts, a woman in her thirties
- Lamb, a man in his twenties
- Tubb, a man of fifty
- Lobb, a man of fifty
Critical reception and interpretation
The play has been interpreted as a searingly comic indictment of institutional bureaucracyBureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
; its black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
and absurdism
Absurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
exposing hierarchical power structures anticipate Pinter's later more overtly political dramatic sketches and plays, such as "The New World Order" (1983), One for the Road (1984), and Mountain Language
Mountain Language
Mountain Language is a one-act play written by Harold Pinter, first published in The Times Literary Supplement on 7–13 October 1988. It was first performed at the Royal National Theatre in London on 20 October 1988 with Michael Gambon and Miranda Richardson. Subsequently, it was published by...
(1988).
Productions
World premiere"First presented at Hampstead Theatre, London, on 24 April 1980 and transferred to the Ambassador Theatre, London on 25 June 1980"; directed by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
Cast:
- Derek NewarkDerek NewarkDerek Newark was an English actor.He appeared in a large number of film and television roles, including The Baron , The Avengers , Z Cars , Barlow at Large in the recurring role of Det. Insp...
, Roote - James Grant, Gibbs
- Roger Davidson, Lamb
- Angela PleasenceAngela PleasenceAngela Pleasence is an English actress. She is the daughter of actor Donald Pleasence and his first wife, Miriam Raymond. The surname for both daughter and father has occasionally been miscredited as "Pleasance"...
, Miss Cutts - Robert EastRobert East (actor)Robert Gwyn East East is an accomplished theatre and tv actor. He also wrote Incident at Tulse Hill, first produced at the Hampstead Theatre in December 1981 under the direction of Harold Pinter....
, Lush - Michael Forrest, Tubb
- Edward de SouzaEdward de SouzaEdward James de Souza is a British character actor and graduate of RADA with ethnic Portuguese Indian and English origins.-Early life:...
, Lobb
Other theatre personnel:
- Eileen Diss, Set Designer
- Elizabeth Waller, Costume Designer
- Gerry Jenkinson, Lighting
- Dominic MuldowneyDominic MuldowneyDominic Muldowney is a British composer.-Biography:He studied at the universities of Southampton and York , and took private lessons with Harrison Birtwistle. From 1974 to 1976 he was composer-in-residence to the Southern Arts Association...
, Sound
American premiere
The American premiere was directed by Adrian Hall at the Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Repertory Company is a non-profit regional theater located in Providence, Rhode Island. The theater is a member of the League of Resident Theatres. Founded in 1963, the theater is "one of the most respected regional theatres in the country"...
for its 1981-1982 season and transferred to the Playhouse Theatre
Playhouse Theatre
The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in 1907 and still retains its original substage machinery...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, from 30 April through 30 May 1982, produced by Arthur Cantor
Arthur Cantor
Arthur Cantor was an American theatrical producer of over 100 plays in New York, London, and elsewhere. He was also the father of actor/journalist Max Cantor.-External links:...
Associates. Richard Kavanaugh, who played Gibbs, was nominated for "Best Performance By A Featured Actor" at the 36th Tony Awards
36th Tony Awards
The 36th Annual Tony Awards was broadcast by CBS television on June 6, 1982 from the Imperial Theatre. The host was Tony Randall.Presenters: Lucie Arnaz, Milton Berle, Victor Borge, Pam Dawber, Lillian Gish, Marvin Hamlisch, Lena Horne, Beth Howland, Robert Goulet, Swoosie Kurtz, Michele Lee, Hal...
in 1982.
Cast:
- Dan ButlerDan ButlerDaniel Eugene "Dan" Butler is an American playwright and actor known for his role as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the TV series Frasier.- Life and career :...
, Lamb - Peter GeretyPeter GeretyPeter Gerety is an American actor.Gerety began acting while a student at Boston University, participating in productions at the Charles Playhouse. In 1965, he joined the Trinity Square Repertory Company, a resident theater company in Providence, Rhode Island where he appeared in over 125...
, Lush - David C. Jones, Lobb
- Richard Kavanaugh, Gibbs
- Howard London, Tubb
- George MartinGeorge MartinSir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
, Roote - Amy Van NostrandAmy Van NostrandAmy Van Nostrand is an American actress. She has appeared on Broadway in The Hothouse by Harold Pinter; off-Broadway, she appeared in Pearl Theatre's Dance With Me....
, Miss Cutts
Other theatre personnel:
- Eugene LeeEugene Lee (designer)Eugene Lee was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, 1939. He attended Beloit Memorial High School. He has been resident designer at Trinity Rep since 1967. He has BFA degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon University, an MFA from Yale Drama School and three honorary Ph.Ds. Mr...
, Scenic and Lighting Design - William LaneWilliam LaneWilliam Lane was a journalist, advocate of Australian labour politics and a utopian.-Early life:Lane was born in Bristol, England, eldest son of James Lane,from Ireland a Protestant Master Gardener , and his English wife Caroline, née Hall...
, Costume Design
London revival
A revival of The Hothouse, directed by Ian Rickson
Ian Rickson
Ian Rickson is a British theatre and film director. He was the Artistic Director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006, and currently works freelance....
, with a cast including Stephen Moore
Stephen Moore (actor)
Stephen Moore is an English actor, known for his work on British television since the 1980s. He is known for his appearances in Rock Follies and other TV series such as The Last Place on Earth, the children's series The Queen's Nose and the drama Mersey Beat and the British TV comedy series Solo,...
(Roote), Lia Williams
Lia Williams
Lia Williams is an English actress and film director, notable for many stage, film, and television appearances. She is possibly best known for her role in the motion picture, Dirty Weekend...
(Miss Cutts), and Henry Woolf
Henry Woolf
Henry Woolf ,is a British actor, theatre director, and teacher of acting, drama, and theatre who lives in Canada, and a longtime friend and collaborator of 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter, having stimulated Pinter to write his first play, The Room in 1956...
(Tubb), was staged in the Lyttelton at the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, London, from 11 July to 27 October 2007.
Further reading
Merritt, Susan Hollis. "Pinter Playing Pinter: The Hothouse." The Pinter Review: Collected Essays 1995–1996. Ed. Francis Gillen and Steven H. Gale. Tampa, FL: University of Tampa Press, 1997. 73–84. (For "Contents", see typed list at HaroldPinter.org. [Note: there are some typographical errors.])Pinter, Harold
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
. The Hothouse: A Play by Harold Pinter. New York: Grove Press (Distributed by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
), 1980. ISBN 0394513959.
External links
- "The Hothouse" at Harold Pinter.org – The Official Website of the International Playwright Harold Pinter