Daniel Getting Married (A Play, a Pie and Pint), Traverse

 Covid-19 strikes again.  From a cast of three we had two hit by the virus, and two replacements drafted in at very short notice.  Told on Monday, they were given minimal chance to rehearse and found themselves on stage on Tuesday lunchtime.  So this was their third performance.  Both were still, for obvious reasons, script in hand, but were working to improve their performances day by day.  Under the circumstances both Emily Winter and Michael Dylan did a fine job, and it was easy enough to forget the big wodge of paper in their hands.  

Fortunately Neil John Gibson, playing the central character of Daniel, has the adaptability to cope with these new presences on stage.  He told me after that they were now on their third run of the play, and had their third Joy and fourth Gabriel.  None of which was allowed to spoil the entertainment, or take away from the central message.

Daniel is getting married to Zac, and enters his dressing room in the church to adorn himself with a few 'products' and his smart suit.  Gibson sets a light tone, teetering between fear of the day and the campness he wants to introduce to the occasion.  His nerves aren't helped by the arrival of Joy, his mother, who isn't beyond giving her own son a bit of a wind up, including reminiscing about Gabriel, his great love who he spilt up with about four years before.  Daniel asks her to leave so he can get back his equilibrium.  But then Gabriel turns up.  Unexpected, uninvited, and still a huge contrast to the stable figure of Zac.  So what is Daniel to do?  Is he still getting married?  And if so, who's the lucky man?

J D Stewart's script can be a little predictable at times, but has more than enough laughs and tension to keep the action flowing and the audience engaged.  As well as the will he/won't he dilemma, and a bit of underlying conspiracy, it delivers an impassioned plea for the normalisation of all queer cultures - gay, bi, trans - in society, via an excellent monologue from Gibson.  An enjoyable story and a timely reminder, what more can you ask for from a fifty minute drama?