Home, I’m Darling

Home, I’m Darling is a thought-provoking comedy written by Laura Wade, which won an Olivier award in 2019 for best new comedy. This very interesting production, which was much more than a straightforward comedy performed by Southport Dramatic Club (SDC) was directed by Steve Pritchard. The story is centered around Judy, who loves anything from the 1950s era and works in finance, unfortunately she is made redundant, but instead of looking for a new job she persuades her husband Johnny to change their way of life by rebranding herself as a 1950’S housewife and living without modern technology as she believes life was much simpler and less stressful in those days in other words when at home they were living in the 1950’s, even the house is decorated in the style of that era and all furniture and fittings are as near to 1950’s technology as possible. However, is Judy running away from the modern world and is she correct in her assumption that life was easier and less stressful in those days or is she looking through rose-tinted glasses. We gradually get the sense that Judy wants to hide away from the world and even though Judy and Johnny seem to be living the perfect life, it soon becomes obvious something isn’t quite right as their relationship and finances begin to suffer because of their lifestyle.  Judy’s mother Sylvia played by Dyan Ensenat who suited this role very well was not very happy about her daughter’s way of life as she believes Judy has turned her back on all the feminist gains, such as the fight for equality, and the changes in attitude that women have fought so hard for over the years. Sylvia makes a great speech about what it was really like in the 1950s telling Judy this is not what she marched for, that Judy is overlooking the hard facts of everyday life in that era, she points out that the real 1950s were hard for most people who weren’t straight white men and there was no accountability for most predators. Very few houses had central heating, so they were very cold during winter, everyone sat around the fire in one room to keep warm, and families very often lived off one income. I have to say this speech brought back memories although I was very young at the time, but I felt like saying, you tell them Sylvia.As the play progresses, we see that accountability and equal opportunities are much more important in the twenty first century and gender politics had an influence on the plot.

All the cast worked nicely together, and certainly looked comfortable in their roles, producing some good characterisations. Natasha Proffitt in the central role of Judy understood her character and gave a strong performance, she looked and acted like a housewife that could be seen on American television in the 1950’s and 60’s. Natasha was very well complimented by Edward James, as her husband Johnny their chemistry was believable, and you were hoping that everything would sort itself out and be alright in the end. Johnny’s boss Alex who just happened to be a woman caused some trust issues between Judy and Johnny and was nicely played with a 21st century feminist outlook by Fiona Billington. Ceri Watkins, and Tony O’Keeffe, as Judy and Johnny’s friends Fran and Marcus also loved the 50s, they worked very well as a couple and their interactions with each other were very good. I liked the idea of them changing the props in character during scene changes, it was entertaining, and rather comical, which distracted the audience from what would have been long blackouts between scenes, it also contributed to the smooth running of the play and helped to keep the action moving at a good pace. All the cast maintained their characters throughout the production and made good use of the stage area. This is just a constructive comment, but I found it a little difficult at times to hear what the actors were saying which was also commented on by some of the people sat near us, this meant I missed some of the comedy lines, so just a reminder that projection is very important especially when not using microphones.

The set was a 1950s style house it was excellent, very striking, and beautifully dressed, with great use of the stage area, the period Props also added to the atmosphere and the authenticity of the setting, a lot of thought and planning must have gone into building and dressing this set. Well done set designer Alan Gosling, Scenic Artist, Bob Jessamine, Stage Manager Thomas Ashcroft and all the SDC set builders, Properties, and all backstage workers. Technical input was good and effective, we enjoyed the playlist of songs especially in the interval. Costumes by Samantha Fulstow were just right for both eras, Natasha wore some lovely dresses, and I remember the can can underskirts we used to wear, the costumes also added authenticity to the production. 

Congratulations to everyone involved in bringing this interesting thought-provoking production to the stage, including the front of house workers, and thank you for inviting us, my friend and I had a very nice evening meeting some new people.

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