Set on a cruise ship in the Arctic and performed by a cast of five, HOTHOUSE is a new play with songs and a ship’s captain pulling the strings – it looks at the last hundred years in Ireland, and ahead to the next hundred: Ruth in 1969 refuses to eat sandwiches with lettuce in them. Ali in the present day goes on a cruise to say goodbye to the ice. A parent 100 years in the future tells their child it gets better, even though we’re pretty sure they’re lying. HOTHOUSE is about horny songbirds, parents, love, legacy, needing to change (desperately), but not knowing how.
HOTHOUSE tackles climate breakdown with big ideas, a lot of laughs, and some truly grotesque cabaret numbers.
With HOTHOUSE, MALAPROP once again make big ideas urgently human. And funny! This show is not just One More Thing to Feel Bad About. Climate breakdown is so huge that feeling bad is too small a feeling to really do it justice. So why not laugh about death? Why not do a drag cabaret about bees going extinct? Why not sing some songs while the ship sinks? Come along: Laugh. Panic. Think about needing to change (desperately), but not knowing how.

After a sold-out run Upstairs in Project Arts Centre, HOTHOUSE went on to win Best Production and Best Design Ensemble of the Fringe. We received multiple 5 star reviews and truly overwhelmingly positive audience responses.