Having graduated from Hampstead Theatre’s INSPIRE programme for emerging playwrights earlier this year, Nancy Farino is premiering her debut play Fatherland at Hampstead Theatre, running from Friday 31st October to Saturday 29th November. Nancy will be starring in the show as Joy, alongside her on-stage father Winston – played by Jason Thorpe, and Claire – played by Shona Babayemi, with Jason being involved with Fatherland since 2023, and the play is directed by Tessa Walker. Fatherland has their press night on Thursday 6th November, and Nancy got the inspiration for her debut play from her own experiences based on her relationship with her father, who once planned a road trip with her in his converted bus. It has been announced that Nancy will play Josepha Weber in the mini-series Amadeus, due to premiere on Sky Television in December, with her character being the sister of Constanze Mozart (Gabrielle Creevy) and sister-in-law of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Will Sharpe). We chatted to Nancy about her world premiere debut play Fatherland (which opens Friday 31st October at Hampstead Theatre), working with the cast – Jason Thorpe and Shona Babayemi, and her upcoming role of Josepha Weber in mini-series Amadeus.

How does it feel to have the world premiere of your debut play Fatherland opening at Hampstead Theatre on Friday 31st October?

It’s incredibly exciting! Everyone at Hampstead has been so great and I feel very lucky to be working with this team. The play has been developed over the past three years so it’s surreal to watch it finally come to life on stage.

Can you tell us about Fatherland and all three characters – Joy, Winston and Claire?

Joy is 26, underslept and, to be frank, very depressed. She’s going through a really rough patch in life, for the first time really, and completely at odds with how to deal with it. Ideally, she’d like to bed rot and smoke all day. Cue the arrival of her father – Winston!

Winston is a life coach/entrepreneur/jack of all trades really whose ethos is to never sit down and always think positively. He arrives in a bus he’s converted himself with grand plans of a trip to County Mayo, to reconnect with lost family but ultimately to escape a mess of his own.

Claire is the person predominately dealing with Winston’s said mess. She’s a solicitor, who is far too competent to be working at the firm she currently is, but ‘life got in the way’ of her being elsewhere and now she is stagnant. Winston and his case are the catalyst in igniting something in Claire again.

You are starring in the production as Joy, what is she like to play and how is it taking on a leading role in your own show?

Kinda daunting! It’s a part that feels quite close to my heart and perhaps reminiscent of a time in my own life, so I feel I definitely understand what Joy is feeling. But it’s not an easy part. I find myself cursing the writer every now and again, it’s all very masochistic.

What was Fatherland like to write and where did the inspiration come from for the play?

Fatherland was derived from quite a few points of inspiration – a realisation that your parents are in fact fallible humans, a fascination with some legal cases surrounding coercive manslaughter in the US, and honestly, the year of my life where I wore solely joggers and vaped a lot.

Reading that back, I realise this may not be selling the show whatsoever. Ultimately, it is about a father and a daughter relationship as they both attempt to manoeuvre through a difficult time in their respective lives.

The play came to me quite quickly – I wrote it over about a week whilst I was rehearsing for another play. In fact, I think I was probably awful in the other show as I was so keen to get home and write. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some brilliant people on it, notably Tessa Walker (director of Fatherland), who has been immeasurable in helping shape the script into what it is now.

What is it like working alongside Jason Thorpe as your on-stage father Winston and Shona Babayemi as Claire and being directed by Tessa Walker?

I am incredibly lucky to be working with such a fantastic cast and creative team on Fatherland. Jason has been Winston for a while now – he attended the first slapdash R&D for the show back in 2023 and has played him to perfection since. Shona is incredible and her and Jason share a really great chemistry. I love watching their scenes a lot.

I couldn’t imagine a better director for the play than Tessa. She’s got such a great understanding and vision for the show and has created a really lovely room to work in. Her insights on the characters and the story overall have massively shaped the play into something a lot more clear and moving.

There aren’t enough positive adjectives for any of them, to be honest!

Who do you think Fatherland will appeal to and what do you hope audiences take from the play?

I’m hoping Fatherland will have something for everyone. It’s funny, tender and quick – quotes from the Hampstead website, not just me bigging myself up. I think the father-daughter relationship will speak to many people – as will the places in life we meet all three characters in.

My main takeaway from the play is the idea that life is seasonal and no matter how long the winter, spring will come.

You graduated from Hampstead Theatre’s INSPIRE programme for emerging playwrights earlier this year, how was it being involved with this?

INSPIRE was a really great experience and definitely taught me a lot. It consists of monthly meet-ups with Q&As led by Roy Williams with incredibly inspiring playwrights and directors, and dramaturgical support as you write a play over the course of a year. I hadn’t done a programme like this before so I had few expectations and I truly found each Q&A genuinely inspiring and thought-provoking. I worked with the brilliant Jennifer Davis from Hampstead on my other play, My Strong Intent, and found her guidance incredibly helpful. Hopefully, there will be more to come!

It has been announced that you will be playing Josepha Weber – sister of Constanze Mozart (Gabrielle Creevy) and sister-in-law to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Will Sharpe) – in the upcoming TV mini-series Amadeus, which is due to premiere on Sky Television in December, is there anything you can tell us about this and what are you looking forward to for the release?

I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product myself! We shot in Budapest over summer last year and I truly had the best time. People are familiar with Wolfgang Mozart’s story, but Constanze Weber’s story was the thing that really drew me in with this project. I adored Joe Barton’s writing – it’s always so witty and sharp and he wrote the dynamic between Constanze and her sisters beautifully. Lots of bickering but lots of love. I didn’t always love wearing those corsets but the entire set looked amazing – truly like stepping back in time.

Fatherland by Nancy Farino is at Hampstead Theatre from 31st October to 29th November. Tickets cost from £10 and are available from hampsteadtheatre.com

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