Writer and artist Sam Danson returns with a new game called Dad’s first gay dateWhich will receive his London debut at Seven Dials Playhouse from October 28 – November 16, 2025.
Directed by the famous LGBTQ+ lawyer Rikki Beadle-Blair, Dad’s first gay date is a sharply comical and emotionally honest exploration of how queer men are shaped by expectations. The role has Sam Danson as Ben, Dior Clarke as Tim and Megan Edmondson as Helen. Although the piece is a romantic comedy, it also addresses serious issues and themes that are often absent from the genre.
These include bisexuality, internalized shame, mental health and the messy business to try to become the man you actually want to be, rather than the one you think you should be. It also handles the external pressure to comply with stereotypical masculine ideals and the inner voices of doubt and oppression that make it harder to embrace who you really are.
Dad’s first gay date Introduces us to Ben, a man in the early 1930s that we join during one of the most eventful nights in his life-precise that he builds up the courage to admit that he questions his sexuality and because of this ending his heterosexual 15-year relationship; He discovers that he is becoming a father. The same night, after inviting a tearful goodbye to his ex-girlfriend, he goes into his first sexual meeting ever with a man.
The story follows Ben as he navigates in Push and Pull with Tim-a British-Jamaican man from London who is in the same little northern city-which turns between attraction, fear and curiosity as he stumbles through the complicated and unknown rules for queer dating while he bears the new importance of the imminent fatherness.
The game is located in a small northern industry, and illustrates the contrast between the idea of open queer life in a big city and the reality in a place where gay men feel that they have to hide or at least play their identity in their daily lives. In a society where it is easy to feel like the only one has legs never met another open gay man before he meets Tim.
Tim, in turn, is one of the only black men in the area, which gives their own challenges when it comes to dealing with the racial microaggressions that are never more sharp than when they live in a small – and very white – northern city. Both characters carry the importance of being outsiders and being isolated in sometimes different but equally defining ways. The show explores the black working class experience through the character of Tim and also addresses the racism that meets within that queer society.
It also notices the role of dating apps like grinders in small towns, where gay men may just feel safe to be visible when they are lonely and log in after the pubs have closed, which reflects an unspoken truth about living as a gay man in a less than access to the environment. Dad’s first gay date Highlights that there is no single “gay experience” and instead the range of queer life in these places can involve: from daring to go on an open homosexual date, to browse on grinders after dark, to navigate secret connections, pull off the big city’s nightlife and the silent reality in everyday work. In its heart, the paragraph asks what it takes to go against self -acceptance when you are one of the only open homosexuals in a small town, miles away from the visibility of a big city hub.
Dad’s first gay date is the latest show from Sam Danson, which follows from the success of his previous show Bi-Topiwho received widespread critical praise. While upcoming comedy comes Bi-Topi Explored bisexual identity, Dad’s first gay date Takes on what it means to accept queerness later in life in a place where it often remains unspoken and how that queer experience can differ based on your breed, gender or age.
He is united by director Rikki Beadle-Blair, who has been credited to bring black, gay and working class experiences to a wide audience, as a writer and director of countless games and films, and the creator of the groundbreaking television series Metroxuality. He is also established as an important voice in promoting LGBTQ+ stories and visibility, which extends over a career that includes filmmaking, game writing, acting and direct activism.
Dad’s first gay date Plays at Seven Dials Playhouse between October 28 and November 16. Tickets are available here.
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