Cast Complete for The Hothouse in the West End, Starring Simon Russell Beale & John Simm

It’s getting hot in the West End! John Heffernan, Harry Melling, Clive Rowe, Christopher Timothy and Indira Varma complete the cast of Harold Pinter’s early play The Hothouse, featuring previously announced stars Simon Russell Beale and John Simm. The revival will play at Trafalgar Studios as part of their Trafalgar Transformed initiative by director Jamie Lloyd (Cyrano de Bergerac) and theater operator Howard Panter. The Hothouse will play a limited engagement from May 4 through August 3, with opening night set for May 9.

Set on Christmas Day, The Hothouse tells the story of a nameless state-run mental institution where inmates are subjected to a tirade of mindless cruelty. A maniacal and self-obsessed leader breeds a contagion of hierarchical savagery amongst his staff, who thrive on a noxious diet of delusion and deceit. Written in 1958, The Hothouse opened on Broadway on May 6, 1982, starring Dan Butler and Lucky Guy star Peter Gerety. The short-lived production played for 29 performances before closing on May 30.

Heffernan’s London theater credits include Love and Information, The Physicists, She Stoops to Conquer, Emperor and Galilean, After the Dance and The Habit of Art. His film and TV credits include Love and Marriage, Murder on the Homefront, King Lear and Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. Best known onscreen as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies, Melling’s London theater credits include Smack Family Robinson, I am a Camera and When Did You Last See My Mother?

Rowe’s London theater credits include The Ladykillers, Kiss Me Kate, No Naughty Bits, The Wiz and The Fantasticks. His film and TV credits include All the Small Things, Doctor Who and Tracy Beaker. Timothy’s London theater credits include The Living Room, The Diary of Anne Frank, Haunting Julia and The Grapes of Wrath. His screen credits include Holby City, Casualty, City Hospital and Virgin Soliders. Varma’s London theater credits include Dance of Death, Twelfth Night, Privates on Parade, Hysteria, Ingredient X and The Skin of Our Teeth. Her film and TV credits include Silent Hours, All You Need is Kill and Bride and Prejudice.