Daniel's Husband
If you are struggling to get your partner down the aisle, this is the play for you. I’m single, and I still walked out of the theatre wanting to get married. What surprised me most was not simply the story, but the deep sense of love threaded through every moment; it is a play that reminds you what it feels like to be cherished by someone, and what it costs when that love is challenged.
There is a lot going on in this 90-minute show, and once it’s over and you begin to reflect, even more moments of subtle foreshadowing rise to the surface. There is no filler here. Michael McKeever (Playwright) has placed every single beat with intention. From seemingly idle conversations to dimming the lights, everything contributes to the emotional landscape. It really is something quite remarkable.
The action unfolds in Daniel and Mitchell’s apartment. Justin Williams (Set and Costume Designer) has created a space that immediately establishes character: dark, sophisticated walls; curated bookshelves; a mid-century record desk. It feels unmistakably like the home of a successful architect, but also somewhere warm and lived-in, a place where love resides as naturally as the furniture.
I don’t want to give anything away, but the play presents the idea that no one considers themselves the villain. That said, the production does leave one character feeling slightly more vilified than the rest, though this is entirely dependent on perspective. Every character is driven by a combination of self-interest and deep care for the others, again, that loving quality underscoring the whole narrative.
The play is structured in six scenes, and there is a definite tipping point where the whole dynamic shifts. We begin light-hearted and playful, full of teasing and comfortable intimacy, and end in something far more pensive and emotional. Bring a tissue, genuinely.
Some of the production’s most affecting moments are non-verbal. Alan Souza (Director) has allowed the cast to simply exist on stage, without dialogue, letting the audience sit in the quiet truth of their relationships. Working with Jamie Platt (Lighting Designer), the team creates a stage that feels alive; at one point, a purple-red sunset washes across the scene transition, and the effect is breath-taking.
The five-person cast offers a wonderfully balanced blend of talent. It would be easy to single performers out, but the real craft lies in how they respond to one another; the nuance in the glances, the rhythms of long-established relationships. Raiko Gohara as Trip is everything you’d want him to be: the outspoken younger one of the group. Credit to Souza here too, it would have been easy to push Trip into over-the-top campness, but instead we get a fun, worldly, honest, and slightly naïve portrayal. David Bedella as Barry and Luke Fetherston as Mitchell share a fantastic dynamic, especially in the gentle ribbing Luke gives Barry regarding Trip, which felt all too true to life.
Joel Harper-Jackson as Daniel and Liza Sadovy as his mother Lydia share a complex, loving but strained dynamic, with Mitchell often caught in the middle trying to keep the peace. Lydia has an uncanny ability to get under Daniel’s skin, yet Sadovy plays her with such conviction that you understand exactly where she’s coming from.
While it might feel obvious to say, the production explores important issues that many will find compelling and emotionally resonant. Yes, the play is centred in the LGBTQ+ community as the title, Daniel’s Husband, suggests, and McKeever is unafraid to gently poke fun at certain tropes.
Where this show becomes genuinely monumental is within its emotional truth. I think this is the first time I’ve seen an onstage gay kiss that didn’t result in audience cheers; not because people weren’t supportive, but because the scene was so exquisitely tender and raw that no one dared interrupt it. We were all too caught up in the loving moment in front of us.
This show was reviewed on the 9th December at the Marylebone Theatre, London where it runs until the 10th January 2026. Tickets available here: Daniel's Husband at Marylebone Theatre
Review written by Valentine Gale-Sides
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Photo credit: Craig Fuller
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