Desperate Housewife and a family in freefall
Hir (Park Theatre, London) Verdict: Desperate household ★★★★✩
THE pulling power of this strong revival of Taylor Mac’s play is the presence of Hollywood actress Felicity Huffman, making her UK stage debut as Paige, matriarch of a dysfunctional family. The Desperate Housewives star had her own family woes in 2019 when she served a 14-day prison sentence after pleading guilty to a charge of fraud concerning her daughter’s college entrance exam.
Mac’s dark comedy is a cross between a domestic drama and a state-of-the-nation allegory, with a large helping of queer theatre thrown in.
Paige’s son Isaac (Steffan Cennydd) is a US Marine returning from battle, only to find his family home looking like a war zone. Clothes and magazines litter the filthy floor, and his father Arnold
(Simon Startin), who’s had a stroke, is dressed as a clown.
Arnold’s condition has liberated Paige from a violent marriage and domestic chores, and now she humiliates her husband.
Her ally is her other child, Maxine, transitioning into Max (Thalia Dudek). The hir of the title (pronounced ‘here’) is Max’s preferred pronoun.
But as a battle of wills ensues between Paige and Isaac, his PTSD surfaces. Max’s conflicted loyalties also threaten Paige’s new world order, and the family enters freefall.
Huffman is terrific as the brittle Paige, who has some of the best lines ‘Max!’ she yells at one point. ‘Get in here to explain your gender ambiguity to your brother!’
Mac delves into identity, family politics and the power of belonging to a tribe under Steven Kunis’s direction — but the evening really sparkles when Ms Huffman is on stage.