By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Saturday 10 January (matinee) and runs through 10 January 2026 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

Should gay couples get married because they can?

• Read on for reasons including how Daniel’s Husband deserves a West End transfer because the questions it asks have never been more pertinent than now

This is the nub of Michael McKeever’s 1 act play which introduces Joel Harper-Jackson (Standing At The Sky’s Edge, Gillian Lynne Theatre) as the titular Daniel who suggests a bath on the 1st date with an infuriating boyfriend called Mitchell played by Luke Featherston, a writer who doesn’t believe in marriage.

3-time Olivier Award winner David Bedella (& Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre) plays Mitchell’s agent and friend Barry, who despite being in his 40s has a fondness for twinks, and when we 1st meet him is in a new relationship with Raiko Gohara’s carer Trip.

Enter Olivier Award winner Liza Sadovy (Cabaret at the Kit Kat Klub, Playhouse Theatre) as Daniel’s mother Lydia who wants the best for her son but doesn’t understand his fondness for his late father’s art.

Daniel’s Husband begins as a dinner party at Daniel and Mitchell’s with the couple entertaining odd pair Barry and Trip.

We learn how Mitchell’s opposition to marriage is fuelled by his grandparents’ difficult relationship whereas all Daniel wants is to be wed to the man he loves because it’s an option currently available to him.

Living in a world which is suddenly far less tolerant of LGBTQ relationships than at any time for several decades and the importance of this debate suddenly becomes more stark.

We won’t spoil what happens next but it’s territory previously explored on TV’s brilliant It’s A Sin when suddenly any doubt over the importance of love over the legality of marriage is trumped by the impossible practicalities sparked by fate.

The campaign for the West End transfer of this hugely moving piece which is exquisitely cast starts here because we really didn’t expect to be quite so moved by Harper-Jackson’s performance in particular as a character suddenly unable to have a say in his future despite being fully conscious of what is happening all around him .

Sadovy (also Oklahoma!, Young Vic) also does well to elicit some understanding of the motivations of what becomes a really unsympathetic character.

It’s also occasionally funny thanks in particular to Bedella and a sparky Gohara but the real reason why Daniel’s Husband deserves a West End transfer is because the questions it asks about the importance of gay marriage have never been more pertinent than now.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Daniel’s Husband Tickets
• Have you seen Daniel’s Husband before and what did you think of it? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this preview? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook