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REVIEW: Home, I’m Darling at the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham
Cheltemham
How perfect is perfect? -
I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be at the Opening Night of Home, I’m Darling at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham on Tuesday 28th March 2023. This is the first time the Olivier Award winning comedy has been on tour after selling out at the National Theatre and the West End.
We follow the Martin’s, a seemingly happily married couple living in 50’s style domestic bliss. The couple, particularly our leading lady Judy, are so deep in their love of 50’s nostalgia that they’ve made it their everyday life. Judy works tirelessly to be the perfect 50’s housewife, while husband Johnny goes out to work in the modern world. As should be expected, soon things start to crack.
Jessica Ransom leads as Judy and her performance is clever in both Judy’s strength and vulnerabilities. There are subtleties to Judy that develop as the show continues and Ransom certainly allows you to peek beneath Judy’s armour, her 50’s costume, and start to understand what’s beneath.
Though my favourite performance comes from Judy’s mother, Sylvia. Played by Diane Keen, Sylvia brings a dose of reality to fantasy. For me, Sylvia had the leading speech of the night, emotional, raw and a voice of what the 50’s was really like, certainly not the dress up dolls house fantasy her daughter had created.
I can’t write about this production without discussing the stunning set and fabulously designed costumes, of which there were many! The set encompassed the whole stage and was perfectly utilised throughout. The clever scene changes, controlled by Cassie Bradley as Fran and Matthew Douglas as Marcus, were the perfect interlude of 50’s music that interjected a frivolity between serious conversations.
Our fellow audience members enjoyed the music and many a smile was exchanged. We felt our own hearts tug for the shiny surface of nostalgia that the show creates, before encouraging us to question sexism, feminism, and power, both in the 50’s and now.
Home I’m darling is showing at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham until Saturday 1st April.
Review by Sam
The Mystery Reviewer
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