INTERVIEW: In ‘Home, I’m Darling,’ Richard Harrington time travels to find modern-day messages
Photo: Richard Harrington and Katherine Parkinson star in Home, I’m Darling at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London. Photo courtesy of Manuel Harlan / Provided by National Theatre site.
LONDON — Accomplished actor Richard Harrington is enjoying some time travel in his latest role. In the play Home, I’m Darling, which is playing a celebrated West End run in London, Harrington plays Johnny, husband to Judy (Katherine Parkinson). Together they have decided to ditch the trappings of 21st-century life and indulge their inner nostalgia.
That means Johnny and Judy — with names almost perfectly suited for such a lifestyle — change their house into an art-deco feast for the eyes, something that would fit nicely as a backdrop to Leave it to Beaver or Father Knows Best. Their mannerisms, hobbies, grocery store choices and daily routine all follow the vibe of the 1950s.
For Judy, who is the heartbeat of the play, such a time-capsule life is in stark contrast to the frenetic job she left years ago. For Johnny, he enjoys the nostalgia, but his challenges at work start to creep into their humble abode, and the dream they have created may start to crumble.
Then there’s Judy’s mother, Sylvia (Susan Brown), who lived during the 1950s and cannot understand why a couple would want to go back to those conservative, regressive times. She is a feminist who thought Judy would grow up with a similar sense of progressivism.
Home, I’m Darling, written by Laura Wade and directed by Tamara Harvey, highlights a good deal of cultural clashing over its 2-1/2 hours, making for an engaging evening of family drama.
“It was a National Theatre production, and they were going to open in Wales,” Harrington said about the play’s origins. “So I came on board.”
Harrington is a popular Welsh actor, perhaps best known to American audiences for his starring role in Hinterland, a detective show available on Netflix. He has appeared on stage in Coriolanus, The Persians, Look Back in Anger and Other Hands, and his TV credits run deep, encompassing everything from The Crown to Poldark to Death in Paradise.
For Home, I’m Darling, Harrington signed on the dotted line because he was enthralled by Wade’s words, in particular her realistic dialogue.
“It’s always a difficult thing to get the naturalism sounding natural, if you know what I mean,” he said. “I love the idea and the timing of what her message was in terms of where we are now, where we are at, how men treat women, equality. I love the central relationship between the two characters. I just knew it was going to be a compelling time, and it has been.”
It didn’t hurt that Harrington and Parkinson worked together more than a decade ago. He said it has been a joy rekindling that relationship and building a compelling evening of theater.
“It’s a dream for an actor to play really,” he said of the role. “As much as it’s tiring, it’s liberating and rewarding in equal measure.”
Harrington relished the rehearsal process, back when the play first ran at Theatr Clwyd in Wales. The deep themes of this couple’s experimental life can only be discovered around a table, when the actors and creative team are mining the dialogue for clues about motivations and messages.
“It never feels contrived,” Harrington said. “It never feels like you’re saying things in order to make an impact on the world. The one character that does that is the mother character … [And] that’s a sobering moment for the play.”
For Harrington, his takeaway during the development process was to focus on the central relationship between Johnny and Judy. He tried not to ponder the politics of the piece. Instead, he wanted this marriage and their undying love for each other to work.
“All of us were able to debate in a room what it was that we actually wanted to say,” he said. “So scripts would change. Scenes would change. Lines would change on a daily basis to make it the best we could make it.”
After the initial run in Wales, the play moved to the National Theatre last summer. Its critical response and audience reaction were so strong that it transferred to the West End for a limited run, which ends April 13.
“Like anything that’s long running, you’ve got to keep yourself enthused,” Harrington said. “I don’t stick to a rigid set of what we do. It changes. The dynamic changes every night. Therefore, it keeps it fresh. … You have to work with everything you do because you have to earn your moments, but each of the actors and characters in it make me laugh every night. And I think that’s just the sentiment of the company that has been created. We all really like each other and really respect each other’s work, so it’s just a pleasure to see what happens really.”
Harrington has been working as an actor for nearly 25 years. He has found great success, and of the characters he has been offered to play, many of them have been interesting and truly fascinating to embody.
“I’ve been very, very lucky,” he said. “I’ve got children. I’ve got another one on the way. I’ve got to keep bringing it in. As long as the work is interesting, I’ll do it. As long as the people that offer me work are good, I’ll do it. I’m just lucky really. I haven’t had the success that some people have had. I’m still striving hard to do that. I still have to audition for lots of roles, but I’m 44 now. I’ve been doing this since I was about 20, and I’ve never done anything else. So I always count myself very fortunate.”
Perhaps the greatest bullet point on his impressive résumé is Hinterland, which was simultaneously filmed in Welsh and English. Netflix audiences have fallen in love with the show and in particular Harrington’s central role of DCI Tom Mathias.
“I’m very proud of that,” Harrington said. “I don’t think anybody realized the success that that would become. It’s really nice. I was in L.A. quite a lot, and it’s really nice when you get praise from people that probably don’t know anything about Wales. When you shoot this on a hill in the mist, you don’t have any idea. You just try to remain true to the production, and if it touches people around the world, I think that’s a bonus. I’m living the dream really. I’m having a lovely time. I’ve done terrible things, too, but I’m glad that the things that I’m most proud of have done quite well.”
Transitioning back and forth between the stage and the film/TV world is fairly easy for Harrington. He uses the same acting muscle, no matter the part or medium. For him, the entry point is always the character he’s portraying. He’s taken this approach since he began acting in his 20s.
“It was a complete accident really,” he said of his decision to become an actor. “I got expelled from my school for being unruly and got involved in the arts and theater. I’d always been interested in literature, and somebody just gave me a break one day. And it went from there. I never went to a drama school. … I built my career from that. I’m always grateful, so everything I learned I learned from my family, places where I lived in South Wales, which is full of characters and stories and poetry and myth and landscape. That’s pretty much what I take with me.”
Now he’s in a buzzed-about play in the West End, a legendary neighborhood of theaters that is the dream of any actor.
“It’s lovely,” he said. “It’s completely lovely. I’ve been in West End plays that haven’t really done so well. They get kind of empty houses. It must be difficult, you know, when you have 100-150-plus shows ahead of you, and you know it hasn’t been reviewed very well. But this has come in off the back of being at the National, so it’s had good press. We know the play works. We know that the production works. We know that the characters within it work. It’s a real privilege and an honor. I always remind myself of that. I’ve walked past many a West End theater when I was out of work, dreaming of being there. I’m just glad I’m in something that works, and I contributed to it.”
He added: “I think in this day and age, if something can make an impact, no matter what it is, it’s a good thing, particularly in this day and age when people need reminding of who we are.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Home, I’m Darling, starring Katherine Parkinson and Richard Harrington, plays through April 13 at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End. The show is produced by the National Theatre, Theatr Clwyd and Fiery Angel. Click here for more information and tickets.
