‘Heartbreak House’

West End and Broadway leading lady Helen Anker plays Hesione Hushabye gathering the outrageously eccentric family of Captain Shotover together in their country house to save her young protégé from a marriage of convenience to an ageing industrialist.

But the bride to be is not as naive as she appears, inconvenient sexual desires bubble to the surface in the most unusual places and all the while what we think of as Europe, teeters on the brink of self-destruction.

“Justin Williams and Jonny Rust’s fascinating set is rich in detail, for once making the most of the Union’s black box space, while complementing the many layers of the play” – The Stage

Bernard Shaw’s classic, pitch-black comedy of manners exposes the deceptions, passions and pursuits of England’s ruling class in an entertaining, gently political satire that’s as biting amidst today’s uncertainty over Europe as it was when it was performed a century ago.

“Justin Williams’ and Jonny Rust’s set is a masterpiece in its own right” – Spy in the Stalls

The first production in the Union Theatre’s Essential Classics 2018 season comprising of Shaw’s Heartbreak House, Bizet’s Carmen and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Three topical productions from the Phil Willmott Company in which great playwrights and composers of the past have reflect on issues similar to those we face today.

“…there’s plenty of fine work on show. Justin Williams and Jonny Rust’s set pulls off the not inconsiderable trick of looking like both a country house and a ship… This theatre has never pleased the eye more.” – BroadwayWorld.com