Butterworth

Cunningly, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth’s “The Agency” — a remake of the French series “Le Bureau des Légendes”— pushes its central character to question that arrangement.

Kimberly Belflower’s “John Proctor Is the Villain,” starring Sadie Sink from Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” received seven nominations, the same number as Jez Butterworth’s “The Hills of California.”

I’m still haunted by “The Hills of California,” Butterworth’s richly imagined drama about the death-bed vigil a group of sisters is holding for their mother, who sought to turn them into a copy of the Andrews Sisters.

Then when Jez Butterworth came onboard, it transformed even into something more spectacular and it had a cohesion of characters that was very exciting.

Brash British playwright Jez Butterworth’s “The Hills of California,” a Chekhovian drama with a modern edge about the vigil variously embittered sisters are holding for their dying mother, who unsuccessfully groomed them for showbiz glory.