Review: The Dangers of Dismissing Reality by Disappearing Into Fantasy Worlds Is Delivered With 1950's Flair In Laura Wade's HOME, I'M DARLING.

Wednesday 14th April 2021, 8pm, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Capitalizing on the popularity of reconnecting with vintage aesthetics, Laura Wade's (playwright) HOME, I'M DARLING considers the danger of delving too far into the retro fantasy and trying to recreate a 1950's life in the 21st century. Directed by Jessica Arthur, this Sydney Theatre Company production of the 2019 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy winner is a beautiful expression of a work that is visually captivating while holding powerful and pertinent modern message.

As with the twist on the clichéd greeting used to create the title HOME, I'M DARLING, Judy (Andrea Demetriades) and Johnny's (Anthony Taufa) view of the world is somewhat muddled. Whilst most vintage enthusiasts enjoy the theatre of dressing up, maybe listening to the music and learning the dances, this thirtysomething couple push the boundaries to obsession as they have dedicated their life to recreating what they perceive as the full 1950's experience. University educated Judy has given up a well-paid career in finance to become a stay-at-home housewife following her "bible" of how to be the perfect domestic goddess in full skirts and wiggle dresses. After being furnished with a neatly folded newspaper, a greaseproof paper wrapped lunch in a metal lunchbox and a kiss from his loving wife, sole earner Johnny drives to work in an unreliable but period appropriate vehicle. Their completely renovated home has a rotary phone that does not mix well with modern mobile phone numbers and a rounded refrigerator that seems to be consistently requiring costly maintenance. If it werent for the laptop that emerges from the kitchen drawer or the mobile phone that Johnny needs as a realtor, it could be believed that they were living in the 1950's.

Designer Genevieve Blanchett has created an incredibly detailed expression of a quintessential 1950's home made famous by films, television and House and Garden style magazines, reinforcing Judy and Johnny's dedication to the fantasy along with the realization that they may only be seeing the beautiful, "good" side of the times. Blanchett's costuming confirms their dedication to the dream along with expressing that their friends Fran (Chantelle Jamieson) and Marcus (Gareth Davies) are also enthusiasts of the styles, though not to the same degree as they incorporate contemporary elements into their expression. The contrast between Johnny's boss Alex's (Kirsty Marillier) confidence as contemporary woman in a masculine workplace and Judy is highlighted with contemporary suit and simpler styling while Judy's feminist mother Sylvia (Tracy Mann) is presented as a polar opposite to her daughter with pink tinged hair, funky layers, and a generally hip and modern style.

Verity Hampson's lighting is artfully used to express how much of a fantasy Judy is living in with sparkling spotlights when she disappears into daydreams believing she has achieved the period perfect life. Tonal shifts and spotlights echo the shift from Judy's perfect world to discovering the problems she can't avoid with the words and actions of a picture-perfect wife. James Brown's compositions and sound design show how important music is in indicating an era along with presenting reworkings of well-known pieces to accentuate the lyrics to echo the sentiments on stage.

Jessica Arthur ensures that this work retains its humor while presenting a powerful message about communication, relationships, facing reality and the dangers of washing over the less savory parts of the past so only the parts we want to see are retained. With the work set in England, the characters all adopt English accents even though the work could easily be presented in an Australian setting. The use of the accents does however add to the expression in that Judy and Johnny and to a degree Fran and Marcus, are trying to be something they are not but rather creating characters of what they perceive would be the correct expression for someone from the 1950s. Demetriades and Taufa's speech is more deliberate than intuitive just as Judy and Johnny are constantly aware of whether their words fit with the era as they want to maintain the image while the less fanatical Fran is often heard apologizing for using swear words that would have been deemed inappropriate for a respectable 1950's housewife.

Demetriades captures Judy's obsessive devotion to the image while ensuring there is an undertone that the façade is hiding underlying trauma and rebellion against her upbringing. Taufa's gives Johnny an air of someone potentially going along with the act out of devotion to his wife while he is silently unsettled by the arrangement. Demetriades and Taufa ensure the couple's physicality is lifted out of the movies that romanticized the era while retaining a deliberation that implies they are still getting used to their new 'normal' while their expressions have a 'Pleasantville' feel of pretending to be sickeningly happy.

The hard reality of the fantasy is brilliantly expressed by Tracy Mann's monologues in which it is made clear that Sylvia is the only one willing to acknowledge the truth behind the fictionalized façade that Judy lives in. The shift, or lack thereof, of attitudes is expressed through Chantelle Jamieson's portrayal of Fran as a woman torn between supporting her husband and having an underlying knowledge that the denial of his behavior is wrong while Gareth Davies presents some fabulous moves as Judy's dance partner but also an outdated misogynist that seems more drawn to the fantasy of dressing up for much less wholesome reasons than his friends.

HOME, I'M DARLING is a wonderfully presented reminder that we cannot escape the real world and it is important to view history in it's entirety, not simply pick the parts that we want to see. With issues that have come to the fore in contemporary times along with enduring issues that will continue to be faced regardless of the year, this is about awareness and understanding of the society and world we live in along with remembering complexities of relationships take more than a pretending to be the perfect family to make people truly happy.

https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2021/home-im-darling

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