Nigel Andrews, former film critic of the Financial Times, returns to the London stage to present his directorial debut in George Bernard Shaw’s HEARTBREAK HOUSE, from 31st May to 3rd June at Hampton Hill Theatre.

G.B. Shaw’s most heartfelt, witty and piercingly satirical play – a tragicomedy of society folk perched on the precipice of life and death is produced by Rhinoceros Theatre Company, who brought Shakespeare’s KING LEAR’ to Hampton Hill Theatre in 2022.

World War I is looming in the skies above. A semi-mad retired sea captain presides over a family and guests bickering, flirting, anguishing and philosophising in the countdown to apocalypse.

Nigel Andrews (former film critic of the Financial Times) directs for the first time and co-stars with a talented cast led by Fiona Smith, Mia Skytte, Anastasia Drew and Oliver Tims.

A third of the ticket revenue will be donated to the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

Director Nigel Andrews says: “I love George Bernard Shaw’s HEARTBREAK HOUSE because it’s such a weird and modern and uncategorisable play. The way it asks so many questions and leaves them barely answered (or else to be answered by the audience!) is like Shakespeare’s KING LEAR. “What is war?” “What is peace?”, “What is love?”, “What is good?”, “What is evil?” Like Lear, Captain Shotover is the patriarchal main character in Heartbreak House, but the crescent power of women is strongly to the fore embodied amongst others by the character of Ellie, a young suffragette who fights back against male authority.

All these elements are at play, and at work, in HEARTBREAK HOUSE. Everything is up for nuance, interpretation and debate, and a lot of elements are shrouded in provocation, there to be read and critiqued. The answers are left to the most important character in that room we call a theatre: the audience.”

Speaking about the choice to donate a third of the show’s box office in support of the Red Cross Ukraine war relief effort, Andrews explains:
“As in KING LEAR, there’s a war starting up as this story takes place World War 1 and we’ve taken the big step of suggesting a link between this war outbreak and that in Ukraine. Though more than a century separates the two conflicts, weren’t the tanks and trenches and colossal waste of innocent lives in World War 1 a ghostly forefather to Putin’s rampage in modern eastern Europe? It’s striking and heart-breaking, indeed, how we are always reminded that humanity doesn’t seem to want to learn. We want to use this chance to do our part, albeit small, while we are reminded that the pain and tragedy of war remains the same, no matter the players, or the century we are in.”

To book tickets please visit: https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/39345

Venue: Hampton Hill Theatre – MAIN AUDITORIUM, 90 High Street, Hampton Hill, TW12 1N