The Hothouse is one of Pinters best plays: one that deals with the worm-eaten corruption of bureaucracy, the secrecy of government and the disjunction between language and experience. Michael Billington

The Hothouse was first produced at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 1980, though Harold Pinter wrote the play in 1958 just before commencing work on The Caretaker. The play was revived by the National Theatre, London, in July 2007.

The Hothouse finds Pinter near the top of his distinctive and disconcerting game. Daily Telegraph

Its a joy to see it revived on the Nationals stage . . . This early Pinter confirms that from the start he was not only a master of menace. He had a profound understanding of the danger of unchecked state power. Guardian