Fatherland review – bristling banter and barbed exchanges on the bus

<p><strong>Hampstead theatre, London</strong><br>Overbearing life coach Winston and reluctant daughter Joy take a road trip through repression and half-spoken feelings</p><p>Nancy Farino’s debut play looks at the fault lines in a father-and-daughter relationship. It is refreshing subject matter, enacted on wheels, as a road trip that Winston (Jason Thorpe) railroads Joy (also Farino) into taking, after refitting a school bus as a camper van.</p><p>Joy is a reluctant passenger, Winston a Tiggerish life coach and overbearing parent who sells the trip to her as an odyssey of discovery after tracing the family tree to County Mayo. Both are in fact seeking escape, she from her depression in the aftermath of her first big break-up, he from a legal case which involves a dead client whose grieving family hold him responsible.</p><p><a href="https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2025/fatherland/">At Hampstead theatre, London, until 29 November</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/nov/09/fatherland-review-hampstead-theatre-london">Continue reading...</a>