Theatre Review: Home, I’m Darling
How happily married are the happily married? Home, I’m Darling encourages us to peer through the windows of a supposedly perfect partnership to find all is not as it seems…
Every couple needs a little fantasy to keep their marriage sparkling. But behind the gingham curtains, things start to unravel for Judy and Johnny who have adopted almost all they can of a 50s lifestyle in the modern day. Not just enthusiasts with the cars and the clothes, they’ve gone the whole hog. No mobiles, a 50-year-old fridge, daily Old Fashioneds fixed for hubby to wind down after work. Judy leads the way and loves her new-found freedom of housewifery – greeting Johnny every evening with a kiss before taking his coat, replacing his shoes for slippers and slapping a meat and two veg dinner on the table. But is being a domestic goddess all it’s cracked up to be? While Judy sees no flaws in their choice to live as a ’50s couple’ in the 2020s, Johnny is not so sure…
Home, I’m Darling received its World Premiere at Theatr Clwyd in 2018, before playing at the National Theatre then transferring to the London’s Duke of York’s Theatre and winning the 2019 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.
So many of us were intrigued and excited enough to book tickets, then covid and the subsequent lockdown put paid to all our plans.
But the award-winning production is back, playing this week at Theatre Royal Windsor, then touring the country.
The production brings forth some interesting ideas. It is Judy who is all for swapping her breadwinning, high flying career in finance for one of subservience and isolation. Feminism, racism, misogyny and mental health all are explored in the two hour show, to varying degrees of exposure. There are a lot of points to be made in Home, I’m Darling, but it feels some could be stronger given a little more focus.
Judy, Sylvia and Johnny, are played respectively by Jessica Ransom, Diane Keen, and Neil McDermott, all West End stalwarts and stars in their own rights. The supporting cast hold, though Shanez Pattni’s ambiguous young boss Alex showed hints of more potential than her character allowed.
The peak moment of the show should have been Keen’s soliloquy as mum Sylvia on misguided nostalgia, harping back to the not-so-good-old days – ‘nostalgia ain’t what it used to be’ – in a frank and damning monologue lambasting her daughter’s fanciful lifestyle, but instead a rather lacklustre delivery left it flat, and the cast swiftly moved on. It felt a missed opportunity for a show-stopping moment.
The show is billed as a comedy, but while there are laugh out loud one liners it’s more serious and thought-provoking, and actually quite sad.
Laura Wade’s writing shines and as many questions are prompted than are answered about the state of society’s gender (im?)balance. Me Too murmurs beneath the plot – the sleaze of Matthew Douglas’ Marcus fills the stage with an uneasy air – but equality and happiness do, eventually, win. Just.
Home, I’m Darling is an entertaining and original show with some fantastic moments. The backdrop of 50s décor and the jiving as sets change are pure joy. There were a few first night wobbles, and Keen’s performance will hopefully warm up as the days pass, but BAFTA winner Jessica Ransom’s performance is outstanding. The mental unravelling of Judy’s ‘girl who has it all’ is both joyous and painful to watch, and a lesson to us all to be careful what we wish for. It may just come true…
- Home, I’m Darling is at Theatre Royal Windsor until February 4th before it tours the country until May. For all dates and availability, click here.
