Home, I'm Darling at Richmond Theatre

I did not see Home, I'm Darling at National Theatre because it did not seem to be quite my thing, a little too light for me, but when it came closer to home and at a lower price I was happy to give it a go.

Booking was simple and I got the seat that really should have my name on it by now, Dress Circle A25, for a very reasonable £29.

Being a local theatre meant not worrying about finding a restaurant to eat at beforehand and leaving home just after 6:30pm still gave me plenty of time to stretch my legs a little on Richmond Green before going to the theatre bar and investing £7.5 in a large bottle of Budvar, not at all bad compared to other theatres where I have paid about the same for a small can of something not as good.

I assumed that this was a period piece set in the 1950s because I had been fooled by the advertising, as I was meant to be, and the play did nothing to dispel that until, at the end of the first scene, the wife briefly used a laptop (an Apple MacBook Air I am pleased to say).

The situation was then resolved, a married couple now in their late thirties had decided to adopt a 50s lifestyle the main element of which was that the wife stayed at home doing all of the housework and caring for her man, slippers ready for when he came home sort of thing.

They were blissfully happy and told us so in no uncertain terms.

The scene set, we were then treated to what felt like an extended episode of a sitcom, Terry and June possibly. Funny things happened, awkward things happened and unpleasant things happened but nothing of any depth or meaning. And, like a sitcom, it had a happy and fairly predictable ending.

There is a darker view which says that the wife was betrayed and had to give up many of the things she believed in to save the marriage, but I would be surprised if that is the message we were meant to take from the play.

As a sitcom it was perfectly fine, it was often funny and had nice contrasting moments of drama. It was entertaining, definitely worth going to see, but liked the bite to also make it rewarding.