The Hothouse

Performing for the first time in English in 2003, homerostheater chose an early work by the future Nobel prizewinner Harold Pinter.

Between ourselves, man to man, you’re not by any chance taking the old wee-wee out of me, are you?

Roote, The Hothouse

Pinter is considered one of the premier representatives of modern English theater. Although he was strongly influenced by absurdism (most notably Beckett) he does have a style of his own. Where absurdism revolves around the existential fears of humanity on an abstract level, Pinter concerns himself more with every day situations in which the fear suddenly becomes the major driving force. He is mostly interested in how people intimidate each other and how they exert power over one another. That the integrity of the individual takes a back seat in these situations is something he illustrates with extreme clarity.

The Hothouse (1958) is one of Pinter’s earlier works, and certainly by any understanding a very humorous piece.
The play is set in an institution known only as the rest house, whose nature is subject to interpretation, during Christmas. Long, hollow sounding hallways. Snow… The heating set to full blast and no one seems to be able to turn it down.
Roote, the director, is confronted by the death of a patient and another patient is in labor. In his search to find the guilty parties the boss finds his position of authority slipping away like sand through his fingers. Panic ensues, even bureaucrats are wildlings when push comes to shove.

Cast

Steve Searcy as Mutter Roote
Niels Klok as Gibbs
Ruud van der Zalm as Lamb
Manon Waterreus as Miss Cutts
Thomas Gerkrath as Lush
Jaap Parqui as Tubb
Victorija Ceginskas as Lobb