Home, I’m Darling
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| Program Cover |
Play written by Laura Wade
Review by Ernest Edwards
One of the many reasons why I like Lyric Arts, is that not every show they produce is a well known recognizable title. Everything they do is worth seeing. Home, I’m Darling fits that bill perfectly. I had never heard of this play before, I liked the description and ended up loving the production.
This play was written and first produced in 2018. It’s still a fairly new play. At the center of the play is the couple Judy (Kendra Mueller) and Johnny (Kyler Chase). The play starts out in the 1950’s. Everything is the 50’s from the clothing, the hair styles, to the decor, metal lunch boxes, landline telephones, a console record player, the furniture and the appliances. Then we notice present day things start to pop in. A laptop here, the mention of cell phones there.
It is revealed that this play doesn’t take place in the 1950’s. It’s present day and Judy & Johnny have decided to live like they are in the 1950’s. It started out as a 6 month experiment, but has now been going on for three years. What got them here was that Judy’s job was downsized. She did get a severance. Johnny was bringing home good money. Judy was kind of tired of the corporate life. They give living like the 1950’s a try, and Judy becomes the stay at home wife who wears high heels and jewelry as she cleans the house. As the years have gone on, Johnnys’ commission has been shrinking and Judy has used her savings to bridge the gap. Judy’s savings is now completely gone, as is the money her father left her, and the bank wants to start foreclosure proceedings.
Judy’s mom Silvia (Patti Haynes-McCarthy) set’s the record straight on the 1950’s with a great monologue in the second act. She talks about the racism, the sexism, the physical and mental abuse. The 1950’s wasn’t as rosy as television and movies make it out to be. I like in the program how the director says his own Mom wasn’t making london broil and cherry pie every night like June Cleever did.
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| The stage before the play begins. Photo by Ernest Edwards |
What era would like to live as in today’s world? Would you be willing to make a leap like Judy & Johnny did? Would you completely renovate your house and wardrobe to fit that time period?
Not only is this a fun play with a nice mix of comedy and drama. It also makes you think. What if? It was also fascinating to watch this story unfold over the evening.
This fun play runs through June 21, 2026. Check out www.lyricarts.org for tickets.
