DANIELS HUSBAND ★★★★

Marylebone Theatre, London

London’s smart, intimate Marylebone Theatre presents the UK debut of Daniel’s Husband, writer Michael McKeever’s off-Broadway success, which has been playing to US audiences since 2017. This version is directed by Alan Souza. Be prepared for a thought-provoking ride.

Middle-aged gay couple Daniel (Joel Harper-Jackson) and Mitchell (Luke Fetherston) have been together for a while and live in a stylish New York apartment, designed by architect Daniel. Mitchell writes trashy romance fiction, and both men are successful. We join them one boozy night at home where they entertain Mitchell’s literary agent Barry (David Bedella) and his much younger latest twink man-of-the-month, carer Trip (Raiko Gohara). The men drink, banter, and eat great food. The generation gap between Trip and the others is obvious, but Trip has a good head on his shoulders.

Daniel and Mitchell get on well, except for one big issue between them. Daniel would really like to get married, but Mitchell, for various reasons, is totally against marriage. We follow the men for a while, including a visit from Daniel’s overbearing mother, Lydia (Liza Sadovy), whom Daniel really doesn’t have much time for. The simmering undercurrent of the disagreement on marriage between Daniel and Mitchell continues and bubbles to the surface one night, with very dramatic consequences.

Souza has stayed true to McKeever’s original play and, together with the strong cast, Justin William’s beautiful set and Jamie Platt’s warm lighting, has delivered a solid production. This is a performance of two halves. The first couple of scenes could do with some script rewrites. The queer banter feels a bit tired and cliched, as do some of the inter-generational references. One scene, where a confused Trip picks up a vinyl record of Daniel’s, not knowing what vinyl is, is hopelessly out of date given that Gen Z are the principal drivers in the current resurgence of vinyl music sales. Maybe these jokes and basic queer innuendo work on a US audience, but queer Londoners at the theatre need more nuanced, sophisticated humour (unless we’re at a drag show or pantomime of course!) Mitchell is a cheesy romance novelist so perhaps the level of conversation is right for him, but I still think improvements can be made. Another issue for me is that, apart from Trip, none of the characters are very likable, so it’s difficult to connect to them.

All is forgiven in the following scenes where the comedy is ditched and intense, raw, brutal drama prevails. Then the show comes into its own, and we tread a very unpredictable path. No spoilers, but it’s definitely worth seeing. It might alter your opinions in a life-changing way.