Daniel's Husband at Marylebone Theatre Review

An older man Barry (David Bedella), and his new twink boyfriend, Trip (Raiko Gohara) join another couple at their home for drinks. The banter and bonhomie are free-flowing and good natured, until the youngest and newest member of the group dares to challenge why the couple who have been together for 7 years, haven’t entered into civil partnership or matrimony. Since gay marriage was a hard fought-for right, he concludes that it seems bizarre, even irresponsible, that they haven’t done so. As we learn, the matter is more nuanced and has history for the pair.

Mitchell (Luke Fetherstone) clearly has very defined views on gay marriage and how such unions shouldn’t be based on the religious norms of heterosexual marriages. It transpires this has always been a bone of contention between he and his partner Daniel (Joel Harper-Jackson), who clearly has wanted to make their union official almost since their first meeting.

As the pair’s work life begins to add pressure, family relations also contribute to a general sense of disharmony - particularly in relation to the strident matriarchal figure of Daniel’s mother Lydia (Liza Sadovy) who enjoys coming to spend extended periods at the house where her views and blunt statements ruffle feathers and cause frosty stand-offs. A frequent device used in these moments by director Alan Souza, is to have the actors stare beyond the footlights and above the heads of the stalls patrons at an imaginary painting by Daniel’s late father. His mother uses the canvas to belittle her former husband’s talent, whilst his partner thinks it is ugly and sharp. Daniel has to repeatedly point out that it is his home, and he’ll hang the painting in memory of his father wherever he wants. It’s typical of a few segments where characters are required by the script to express opinions which feel unnecessary and forced, simply as a means of tidying historical loose ends and generating theatrical friction.

David Bedella as Barry in Daniel's Husband. Photo by Craig Fuller

What began as a fairly lighthearted and frivolous fly-on-the-wall gay drama, suddenly takes a lurch into unexpected territory when during a heated exchange, Daniel suddenly succumbs to possibly the worst of all paraplegias — a brain stem clot causes a disconnect between his physical body and his mental cognisance, known as locked-in syndrome. The attack renders him immobile and unable to speak, yet fully aware of everything going on around him.

The upshot is a rather tragic reevaluation of his stance on gay marriage when Mitchell finds himself at odds with Lydia about the best place and means of caring for Daniel. Despite their 7 years of cohabitation, the couple have no legal status and as a consequence Lydia’s legal action to assert her next-of-kin right to move her son closer to Boston, is successful. During this period, Barry once again features prominently, as professionally, he is also Mitchell’s publishing agent. Trip also makes a reappearance as the home medical worker charged with caring for Daniel. In the play’s opening scene he eloquently describes his natural affinity for caring and his love for his chosen profession, which lent him an air of maturity and kindness seemingly beyond his years.

Plays at Marylebone Theatre until 10 January