LAURA Wade’s 2018 play Home, I’m Darling is all about keen traditionalists Judy and Johnny and their decision to sink their savings into creating the perfect 1950s home and lifestyle – only to be confronted with the expectations of the 21st century. Often hilariously funny and cinematically romantic, played on an authentically decorated set, the play is also bitingly perceptive in its dissection of human relationships, and worryingly prophetic at a time when the “tradwife” movement is gaining traction on both sides of the Trumpic Ocean (what, you didn’t know about the renaming?)

High-earning Judy, made redundant in an office reshuffle, is now living in a carefully-curated home as a perfect housewife – the kind whose daily schedule is cleaning, tidying, cooking and changing clothes in time for her perfect reunion with her perfect husband on his return from work, at exactly the same time each day, bringing him a drink, eating together and dancing the night away. This was all agreed at a time when Johnny was selling lots of houses for his estate agent employers.

But times have changed. Johnny has a new boss. The postman brings daily bills. Judy hides the strain, but her mother sees through it. When old friends Fran and Marcus seem to be drawing back from the annual rock’n’roll holiday camp festival in the Airstream, and Johnny’s expected promotion is kicked further over the horizon, it might be time for a rethink.

In performing this play it is really important that the two central characters have a believably loving relationship, and that the production is not overbalanced by the dynamic charisma of Judy – and here at Ilminster, director Irene Glynn and her brilliant cast have absolutely nailed it.

Each one of the six precisely-drawn characters is recognisable and credible, playing on a charmingly retro set designed by Dave Goodall with help from various period prop providers. There is nothing that doesn’t ring true.

Jennifer Rusinek’s marvellously pert Judy has her own reasons for wanting to retreat into a “perfect post-war home”, and it is not until her mother Sylvia’s barnstorming speech in the second half that the background comes into focus. Olwen Herridge returns to the Warehouse stage with another powerfully-nuanced characterisation as Sylvia.

Not for a minute do you doubt Johnny’s love for Judy in James Mitchell’s increasingly conflicted performance (though he could have done with a larger hat!)

Paula Joslyn’s Fran is one of those women who constantly turns a blind eye to her husband Marcus’s flings, while Robert Bedford’s Marcus handles the very icky would-be seduction with panache. And Kate Hallett bursts onto the stage with an unforgettable laugh as Alex the new boss.

This is a hugely accomplished production, richly deserving its every-night-a-sellout performances and its standing ovations. It’s funny, touching and hugely enjoyable.

GP-W