The Daily Telegraph

When domestic bliss goes wrong

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Theatre Home, I’m Darling Theatr Clwyd, Mold ★★★★★ By Dominic Cavendish

The theatre-going public has been quick to make up its mind about Home, I’m Darling. Laura Wade’s latest has sold out its run at the National. Tickets for its Theatr Clwyd launch in not-easily-reached Mold are selling faster than cup-cakes hand-iced by Mary Berry.

On one level, the burning curiosity is a testament to Wade’s status. She gave us Posh, one of the best plays of the decade. And it’s a tribute to the pulling-power of Katherine Parkinson, adored ever since she broke through as Jen in The IT Crowd. But the title, and the premise it helps indicate, is, I think, the crucial factor here.

Judy (Parkinson) and Johnny (Richard Harrington), have decided to “retro-style” their marriage according to the look, and outwardly simpler, homelier arrangemen­ts, of the Fifties. He goes off to work, she makes their throwback domicile wonderful. Given the ongoing focus on gender equality, the pressures of modern life and the lure of nostalgia, who wouldn’t want to see how this theatrical experiment

(derived from real-life instances) plays out?

It will come as no great surprise, perhaps, to learn that not everything is as symmetrica­l and simple as the colourful décor in Anna Fleischle’s lovingly detailed mock-up suburban house. After an emetically doting ritual of wifely breakfast preparatio­ns – conducted to the jaunty yet melancholy soundtrack of Mr Sandman (the first in an astute period playlist in Tamara Harvey’s brisk, polished but sometimes vocally underpower­ed production) – we see the difficulti­es gnawing away at the wiring of their elaboratel­y maintained marital bliss. Money is running out, and there’s cynicism from Judy’s old-school feminist mother (Sian Thomas, turning the withering glance into an art form) and Johnny’s promotion seeking female boss, Alex (Sara Gregory) – who might constitute a sexually rivalrous threat.

The writing could do with more detail on Judy’s daily routine. What’s impressive about it, though, and doubly so about Parkinson’s performanc­e, as beautiful as her costumes, is that it doesn’t turn her into a simple Aunt Sally figure.

She’s undeniably comic, yet her brittlenes­s explains why this escapism might be her salvation, and she passionate­ly defends her right to choose, allowing herself the absurd contradict­ion of internet-surfing while refusing to buy pizza. Let those who don’t sense a gulf between what they’d like and what’s possible cast the first stone.

Until July 14. Tickets: 01352 701521; theatrclwy­d.com. Then at National’s Dorfman Theatre, July 24-Sept 5: 020 7452 3000; nationalth­eatre.org.uk

 ??  ?? The perfect housewife: Katherine Parkinson
The perfect housewife: Katherine Parkinson

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