Have you named a health care surrogate? How about designating a power of attorney? What’s the state of your last will and testament?
Should anyone have postponed settling these matters, seeing Daniel’s Husband may well scare you into getting this life-and-death business done as fast as possible.
A reflective, straightforwardly-composed piece, Daniel’s Husband is a modern-day problem drama involving a white, middle-aged, gay couple. Depicted as nice guys who have been happily together for seven years, Daniel (Ryan Spahn) and Mitchell (Matthew Montelongo) are smart, successful professionals. Then their comfortable life unexpectedly slams into a brick wall.
Before the crisis arises, it is revealed that due to a disregard for heteronormative convention, Daniel and Mitchell never married nor inked a domestic partnership agreement. Neither have they secured other legalities regarding their relationship.
When one of the men suddenly becomes incapacitated, his mostly well-intentioned mom (Anna Holbrook) decides to take charge. “I’m his mother,” she asserts. “I have the right.”
And so a terrible situation gets even worse as lawyers are summoned.
Although Michael McKeever’s play regards a gay relationship, the issue that he sympathetically studies might to some extent apply to heterosexual couples who have neglected to settle the legalities of their union.
Opening on Sunday in the upstairs space at the Westside Theatre, Daniel’s Husband offers nothing fancy in terms of dramatic technique as what initially promises to be a cozy comedy about a couple dealing with an exasperating older relative abruptly turns tragic.
The playwright cogently lays out his cautionary story in 95 intermission-free minutes that covers half a year or so in the couple’s suburban living room. It is a handsome space tastefully done in mid-century modern decor, complete with a couch and coffee table. Brian Prather designed the setting, which neatly suggests a conventional, upscale lifestyle.
So, too, is the play an example of conventional mid-20th century theater. The characters and their conversation are viable. The smothering mother is not portrayed as a monster. The legal pros and philosophical cons regarding same-sex marriage are neatly argued. If sometimes the drama seems too tidily expressed, it soberly considers a timely topic. The bleak conclusion is softened by a flashback that proves to be honestly touching as well as ironic.
Under director Joe Brancato’s well-paced guidance, good acting breathes life into the play. Ryan Spahn and Matthew Montelongo share an easy give-and-take rapport as Daniel and Mitchell. Anna Holbrook’s mildly irritating quality as the mother becomes steely under stress. A longtime specialist in playing best friends, Lou Liberatore assuredly portrays a wise best friend. Leland Wheeler puts a sunny face on his pleasant representative of the rising generation.
The intentionally quiet atmosphere that Brancato cultivates for this production unfortunately is marred at times by percussive sounds welling upwards from the musical The Other Josh Cohen, which is being performed in the Westside’s downstairs theater.
Although Daniel’s Husband tends to be something of a tearjerker, it provides a warning to us all to get our affairs in order before whatever happens, well, happens.
