Review: Daniel's Husband (Marylebone Theatre)

Daniel’s Husband is a play written by Michael McKeever and directed by Alan Souza. I was both surprised and delighted to be invited to the Press Night at Marylebone Theatre.

As you take your seat you are greeted by the view of a stylish apartment, boldly decorated in blue and green (my favourite colours, so maybe I’m a biased when I say I loved the colour scheme).  I particularly liked the sloped roof which instantly gave the impression of a stylish – likely outrageously expensive – top floor apartment somewhere in the US, (possibly New York or similar). As well as looking gorgeous, the set (designed by Justin Williams) was full of functional props, such as a record player for listening to the vast vinyl collection shown on the shelves, drink decanters and a cupboard full of glasses which were frequently used.  The lights and the skylight windows matched perfectly with the lighting design (by Jamie Platt) for changes in day to evening. The lighting was also used with striking effect to set the mood for certain scenarios.

Enter architect Daniel (Joel Harper-Jackson) and author Mitchell (Luke Fetherston) who have been together for seven years in a mostly harmonious relationship (but are not married).  They were entertaining Mitchell’s agent Barry (David Bedella), and Trip (Raiko Gohara) his much younger and very recently appointed squeeze. This first scene included some very funny moments, and came across as an interesting introduction to the characters. The only air of tension was caused by a discussion about marriage, which Daniel would like to see in his future and Mitchell categorically would not. Trip, despite being the youngest character, instantly appears to be both naive but also somehow more emotionally mature than Barry.

Daniel’s mum, Lydia (Liza Sadovy) comes to stay, and this shakes things up a bit. Discussion about a painting Daniel’s dad created is interesting as Daniel loves it and his mum seemingly loathes it because of who painted it, so this leaves you wondering what happened between Daniel’s parents. But does this give insight into how his mum may have come to be who she is – or is it in fact just a hint at how correct Daniel is to not be a fan of hers? It could go either way, and the answers to these questions are mostly left to your imagination. This is very clever writing.

I should mention the scene changes are underscored by wonderful music (Sarah Weltman), and carried out meaningfully, in particular at the end of the second scene where Lydia stands in the corner of the room, stock still, for a little longer than is necessary when you’re leaving a room.  This gave me major “what is going to kick off here” vibes. It turned out, very rightly so.

Daniel’s not a huge fan of his mum so it was no surprise that, despite her initial sugary affirmations about being with “her boys”, the next scene involved the aftermath of her visit, with Daniel brooding on how awful it had been, and Mitchell returning home after dropping her off as her journey home was brought forward.  The fact that Mitchell was the one who reminded Daniel multiple times that he should call his mum to smooth things over was poignant, especially with what occurs next.

If you want to know what I am referring to, you will need to go and see for yourself as my reviews are spoiler free. Believe me when I say, you want to find out sitting in the theatre rather than reading second-hand thoughts.   What I will say is, the cosy slice of life became something altogether more dramatic and I loved this unexpected change of pace.

As well as genre switching, the writing would give a psychologist something to think about as bonds are broken while others are formed or reimagined, relationships become strained and others adapt.  The use of two very powerful pieces of monologue were captivating and I had the sense of not wanting to blink and miss a moment. The final scene was a bittersweet flashback. Beautiful to watch and yet also incredibly sad.

I have never before seen an entire audience leap into a standing ovation as one. This was extremely well deserved and I think this piece of theatre is so satisfying due to the wonderful writing, the performances across the board, the genre switching nature of the narrative. Everything about it actually.

Showing at Marylebone Theatre until 10 January, Daniel’s Husband is definitely recommended as a way to end this year (or indeed start the next one) on a theatrical high note.

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Thank you for the invitation, you know who you are.

If you would like to see my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.