Time and again in all manner of shows of the 1950s the breadwinner husband, after his hard day’s breadwinning, would return to the loveliness of his neat and tidy home and his neat and tidy wife with a cheery cry of, “Darling, I’m Home!” Promptly, his impeccably dressed, perfectly coiffed wife would hang up his jacket, serve him cocktails and home-cooking and attend to his every need, all with a beaming smile, having spent her whole day ironing shirts, hoovering, shopping, baking, tidying, cleaning behind furniture and generally keeping everything perfectly pristine.
As a perky recording of Mr Sandman bounces along on happy dreams, Laura Wade’s play begins in similar style with Judy, all loving, wide-eyed domesticity, serving Johnny a tasty breakfast, packing his lunch and getting him ready for his day at work. The title of Wade’s play, though, which premiered in 2018 and won a 2019 Olivier for Best New Comedy, is Home, I’m Darling. This deliberately back-to-front word order appropriately reflects the bizarre confusion in this couple’s onstage lives. For, in this bouncy, happy world, all is not what it seems.
Even before curtain-up Anna Fleischle’s huge set assaults eye and brain. Filling the stage is the cross-section of an entire two-story house whose bright, busy decor and clutter of props and furnishings work together in a bewildering, brain-bashing way. The style, with its bright, fresh happy yellow kitchen units, is largely middle-class 1950s – yet not quite all is in keeping with that. What’s more, once the couple have declared how appallingly happy they are together and Johnny has been waved off to work with a loving kiss, out comes Judy’s laptop. What’s going on?
Judy has, in fact, given up a successful 21st century career and now stays home, living in a fantasy world of her own making, set firmly in what she sees as the idyllic 50s. Though she does buy on e-bay, tech is banned from the home, and estate agent Johnny (Neil McDermott), who seems to enjoy her perfect-wife cosseting, indulges her. This amusing set-up provides light humour but is disturbing, too, especially in the livelier, meatier, more compelling, revealing second act when frustration, friction, distrust, misunderstanding, disapproval, upset and anger pour into the mix as interactions intensify with Judy’s frustrated, disapproving mum Sylvia (Diane Keen) – who knows all the downsides of the austere, male dominated fifties – and with Johnny’s attractive estate agent boss Alex and also with friends Fran and Marcus.
Judy’s unusual psychology is never examined but Jessica Ransom’s wonderful acting creates a compelling, engaging Judy, full of bounce, flounce and sunshine in her twirling, swirling skirts yet with underlying insecurities and dread that well up when things go wrong. But perhaps all be well that ends well?
Wade’s drama considers today’s views on the roles of women and men compared to those in the 50s and touches upon a ramble of ideas such as the financial and emotional dependence of women on men which can render them powerless, feminism and women’s lib, modern views of sexual harassment – which wasn’t even a concept back then, and the sharing of domestic tasks.
The play is, indeed, a strange concoction, but its disturbing charm and the cast’s impressive acting make it quite compelling by the second act, while each scene change is a joy to behold, choreographed with jives and dances, performed to magical fifties music by the likes of Buddy Holly.
Eileen Caiger Gray.
The show tour on next to Birmingham, Cambridge and Canterbury. For more information follow this link.
