‘Home, I’m Darling’ @ Pocket Sandwich Theatre

Photos courtesy of Pocket Sandwich Theatre

—Jan Farrington

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was seeing in the first moments of Pocket Sandwich Theatre’s just-opened Home, I’m Darling. Were we inside a British-accented re-run of a Dick Van Dyke Show style sit-com? The dream of a tired husband wanting the “good old days” to return? (He and she work long hours and nobody has time for the niceties of married life—cocktails, tidy house, dinner ready, sex to come)?

Please note that it’s not “her” who is dreaming that dream.

But curiously, it is the wife (Judy, played by Kim Winnubst) who pushes for this “experiment” in 1950s living. British playwright Laura Wade’s Home, I’m Darling is a throwback piece that won the 2019 Olivier Award in London for Best New Comedy. Having been down-sized from her busy corporate job, Judy wants to try being the Perfect 1950s Housewife for husband Johnny (Ryan Maffei), who at first might not have been entirely onboard—but now seems quite content (his small, smug smile gives it away) being waited on by his wife.

There’s something, though.

The dinner-table conversation feels stiff and formal, full of questions and replies you think they must repeat constantly—about “his day” and “her” shopping, friends, etc. Except for the sudden “let’s have sex” run into the sliding-wall bedroom (designer Greg Rogers’ vintage set gets the retro details right: geometric wallpaper, aqua and white kitchen colors, and so on), we wouldn’t sense any warmth at all between these two.

So, in case I’m not being clear, the world inside the home is fully Fifties—but the world outside is our own modern day, as indicated by the entrances of Judy’s mother Sylvia (Mary Tiner) and friend Fran (Lauren Ashley Hearn), Johnny’s new and younger boss Alex (Jessica Brown), and later on, Fran’s husband Marcus (Cody Alexander Tabor). Each carries in some baggage from their everyday lives, “stuff” that impacts the retro smoothness of Judy and Johnny’s cosy home.

This dark comedy is something of a pivot for Pocket Sandwich—no popcorn throwing encouraged, for this time. The subject is wide-ranging, covering power shifts, gender roles, family life and more—all of it naturally quirky and open to jokes and silliness, but walking an interesting line between comedy and real human dilemmas and choices.

So it’s a fun idea, yes—but what really, truly might happen as all these people interact, pulled between the everyday world and the wished-for one Judy and Johnny are trying to pull off? Mom Sylvia, a former hippie chick and everlasting feminist, tells Judy this “isn’t what we fought for” … Fran is attracted to the ‘50s style but not committed to it 24/7 … Visiting girlboss Alex (a woman exec who finds the ‘50s horrifying) gets a new impression of Johnny … and Marcus seems all-too open to the man-centered life.

The play is thoughtfully directed by Becki BcDonald, and the costumes from Kristin Moore are delightful (especially Judy’s overload of colorful, swirly-skirt dresses and Sylvia’s ‘60s fringe and patterns). A “domestic scientist” (Virgil Optic?) is listed in the credits, and I’m dying to know….you know. Caroline Harper Lee is the show’s intimacy director—and did a fine job, as my lack of squirming during the romantic bits will testify. Good kisses, real (if somewhat fleeting) warmth between J&J. What could go wrong?

Winnubst’s precise, almost robotic movements work well for Judy’s character, though the voice feels a bit too unchangingly high-pitched: she isn’t supposed to be a newlywed, but a woman with a high-level business background. Is she anchoring her shift to trad wife in her twittery chatter? In a scene of the couple before their transition, she is physically looser (a good touch) and dressed in leggings and tunic, giving us a glimpse of her former self.

Maffei as Johnny pulls off an irritating self-satisfaction in his first scenes, but there are cracks in his facade, delicately revealed. He’d like to bring Judy a cup of tea; she resists, and he’s obviously a bit crushed by it. It’s our first hint that theirs might once have been a very different relationship. Maffei gives the man plenty of tones and nuance, underlayers rising up that nicely confirm some guesses we make about him as the plot moves along.

Hearn and Tabor also handle shifts in their characters very well, as we get to know more and more of Fran and Marcus’ backstory—not always a good one. And Tiner’s Sylvia is, in some ways, our avatar in this story (I’m speaking of all the Boomer women in the audience—who were giving their husbands the fish eye). We shake our fists right along with her: after all the work, sweat, fear and hard-won progress…how can Judy do this?

Actually, if we’re honest, lots of us can say “how.” Millions were born in the ‘40s and ‘50, and have lived “on the fence” all our lives. Soaked in the traditions of a “stay-at-home” era, coming of age at a time of two-income needs, protests, Ms. magazine and NOW marches…we’ve been giving our own daughters advice from both sides of our mouths for decades: You can be anything…but don’t come on too brainy. Marriage isn’t everything…but why don’t you call that boy Aunt Helen told us about? A woman’s college? I don’t know about that. I think you’d look wonderful in contacts, and for heaven’s sake don’t cut your hair! Boys are very visual in what they like. I want you to find a career…but I never left you in day care, did I?

Home, I’m Darling has a long-ish but sharp script, but is worth taking in—and I enjoyed the portraits created by a cast that “gets” the complicated twists these characters are facing. No popcorn this time? I can live with it.

OH, and there’s dinner/snack/drinks available in the wide horseshoe theatre space. (You can reserve tickets and food, service begins 90 minutes before the show.)

WHEN: May 22-June 20, 2026
WHERE: PST, 1104 S. Elm Street, Carrollton TX (vintage downtown)
WEB: pocketsandwich.com