★★★★★
Wedding rings are left jangling in our ears as darkness descends on stage. Written by Michael McKeever, this masterclass in simple storytelling—having gathered numerous awards from its American tour—now delights and jerks tears in its London play premiere. Think Andrew Scott’s and Paul Mescal’s All of Us Strangers (2023) meets the intricate wit, flawless pacing and subversion of social convention in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).
Daniel’s Husband sets itself up to tell the story of a couple who live largely, laugh often and are invested in their love for each other. Yet, bubbling underneath, this piece showcases the complexities of marriage, gay rights and how relationships shake us both physically and mentally.
For what’s not to enjoy at first about the partnership between Daniel Bixby (Joel Harper-Jackson) and Mitchell Howard (Luke Fetherston)? We never stray in the whole 90-minute performance from their stylish apartment that’s custom designed by architect, Bixby. There is constant entertainment by the flattening spirit and bold opinions of fiction writer, Howard. Accompanying this already promising start are their fashionable and high-spirited friends: Barry (David Bedella), the constantly drinking literary agent who grins like a hedonistic Cheshire cat, and his much younger boyfriend Trip (Raiko Gohara), a kind-hearted nurse.
Well, in swaggers the marriage question alongside Daniel’s mother Lydia (Liza Sadovy), then some serious health complications and this once endearing relationship is turned on its head. Even love such as this one balances on a very thin razor blade.
There are admirable and delicate touches to the set design, each playing their own atmospheric part. Two Vogue books, warm ambient lamps and a working vinyl record player, set the scene with just the right amount of detail. Alan Souza’s direction even plays its part for the stage design of Daniel’s apartment. An impressionistic painting by the architect’s father is forced into our imagination and supposedly hangs just above the audience to act as an instigator for many a lover’s tiff.
We are creatively forced to be complicit in the familial issues that come out of the past to test this couple’s affection for one another. The lighting changes we are left to decode are a spectacle of themselves. Smooth switches from memories provided by colourful and otherworldly illumination are contrasted quickly by a harsh, pasty reality, given by stage lights. This stage team are on the top of their game.
Each performer does their part in making this production pitch perfect. The wonder and enjoyment of this piece comes in the balance between sitcom comedy and piercing emotive pangs that drive the tragedy forward. We are asked questions of our own beliefs in marriage, how willing we are to defy cultural or gendered norms and how far we are willing to go for love.
Daniel’s Husband is a tour de force with an endless capacity to pull at the heart strings. It is sure to stay with you for days to come and knows how to pack a punch in less than two hours. This play is what London Theatre is missing.
Daniel’s Husband will be performed at the Marylebone Theatre until 10 January.
Words by Harry Speirs
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