Jason Thorpe as Winston and Nancy Farino as Joy in Fatherland [Pamela Raith Photography]

FATHERLAND
Hampstead Theatre Downstairs
3.5 stars

Nancy Farino’s bittersweet debut play Fatherland is a quietly affecting meditation on father-daughter relationships.

Winston Smith (Jason Thorpe), a life coach, has arranged a spontaneous road trip to County Mayo with his 26-year-old daughter Joy (Farino) in search of their Irish roots. He’s bought and converted a secondhand school bus – cleverly evoked by Debbie Duru’s car seats on wheels – and plans for them to take the ferry to Ireland.

Joy isn’t keen and Winston fails to tell her that he’s in serious trouble, facing a negligence lawsuit. Scenes with his lawyer Claire (Shona Babayemi) are interwoven throughout the main narrative.

Winston is well-meaning but hapless – a man who starts things but rarely sees them through, including his relationships. He’s relentlessly upbeat, convinced he has a book about positive thinking in him, and yet leaves emotional wreckage in his wake.

Brilliantly conceived by Farino, Winston is essentially an escapist, refusing to face reality. He’s separated from Joy’s mother and has had several partners since. His self-absorption, as the play reveals, is both frustrating and dangerous.

Thorpe excels as the feckless father, his performance perfectly offset by Farino’s portrayal of the softly spoken, vulnerable Joy, who compulsively vapes. She’s clearly depressed and with good reason: her mother has cancer, and she’s recently split from her boyfriend.

Farino’s script is a little uneven in places – Joy’s descriptions of her dreams don’t add much – yet Fatherland is sensitively directed by Tessa Walker. The traverse staging and minimal set put the onus on the actors, and they deliver, although it occasionally leaves us craning our necks.

As an actor-writer, Farino bursts with potential. Her work in both roles is beautifully judged. A talent to watch.

Until November 29
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