Review: HOME, I'M DARLING, Richmond Theatre

Laura Wade's Home, I'm Darling was very well-received when it debuted in 2018 at The National Theatre. Its concept is potentially fascinating; an educated working woman decides to revert to a life of 1950s domesticity in an effort to capture, what she believes, is a simpler and more wholesome way of life. As life events challenge her and her husband Johnny, the veneer of a perfect and manicured life cracks as reality crashes in.

We meet Judy and Johnny in a scene reminiscent of a pastiche of a TV advert; "Mr Sandman" plays as Judy flits around her perfect kitchen in kitten heels, manicured to an inch of her life, serving her husband a perfect breakfast and waving him off with his sandwiches perfectly cut. This appearance of a period piece is burst as Judy pulls out a laptop.

The couple's striving for authenticity piles on the artifice, beneath which cracks are appearing. Judy spends her life wallowing in nostalgia; making marmalade and ironing her husband's shirts. She is so happy to have the time "to clean behind things", but a darker, less tolerant reality is in play as Johnny loses out on a promotion at work and money runs out.

Jessica Ransom is both perky and sad as Judy, but she isn't quite brittle or panicky enough to bring all the comedy out of the character. Katherine Parkinson evoked sympathy in this role when it played at The National Theatre, but here it's hard to feel empathy with Judy, as she is more annoying than vulnerable.

Neil McDermott jumps effectively between play-acting as the cartoonishly over-satisfied 50s husband and pressured sole provider. His affection for Judy is palpable, but his frustrations overwhelm him, as he questions how she can be tired because "you don't do anything".

Their seemingly-fun experiment is punctuated by characters from the 'real world'; Johnny's boss Alex, played by Shanez Pattni and Judy's feminist mother Sylvia.

Diane Keen is the voice of reason as an exasperated Sylvia, who cannot understand why her daughter would want to revert to the strictures of a period she actually grew up in.

As friends of the couple Fran and Marcus, Cassie Bradley and Matthew Douglas facilitate set changes by executing various jive routines. Marcus, accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour at work, stands as a representation of the battles women continue to face, whereas Fran is a more realistic version of modern womanhood; time poor and still under pressure to have a perfect home life.

There are so many interesting ideas here; feminism, choice, financial independence and what the gender roles mean today. Feminism for Judy about choosing this life rather than being forced into it; an interesting idea that lacks sufficient exploration. There is a huge disconnect between the idea and reality of domesticity; Judy repeated states that her home is her job, even as the walls start to cave in on her. She is a wife, not a mother and it is interesting that Wade does not mention children at all, despite being both a wife and mother was the pinnacle of accepted achievement for most women in the fifties.

There is huge attention to detail in Anna Heische's set and costume design; huge petticoats under voluminous skirts, vintage food containers, an authentic 1950s TV set and fridge and a buttercup-coloured kitchen. A scene set when the house was in mid-makeover is also done very well.

Can a woman be fulfilled by giving up a life of financial autonomy to be a diligent housewife? It is to Johnny's credit that he realises the flaws in their current way of living before Judy. However, the flaw is that this production plods along, with stodgy pacing. This version feels muted; less sharp and less provocative than in 2018. This biting satire has lost its teeth.

Home, I'm Darling is at Richmond Theatre until 8 April, the touring

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