Writer and performer Sam Danson returns with a new play called Daddy’s First Gay Date, which will receive its London debut at Seven Dials Playhouse from October 28 – November 16 2025.
Directed by renowned LGBTQ+ advocate Rikki Beadle-Blair, Daddy’s First Gay Date is a sharply comic and emotionally honest exploration of how queer men are shaped by expectations. The cast features Sam Danson as Ben, Dior Clarke as Tim, and Megan Edmondson as Helen. Whilst the play is a romantic comedy, it also addresses serious issues and themes which are often absent from the genre.
These include bisexuality, internalised shame, mental health, and the messy business of trying to become the man you actually want to be, rather than the one you think you should be. It also tackles the outside pressures to conform to stereotypical masculine ideals, and the inner voices of doubt, and repression that make it harder to embrace who you really are.
Daddy’s First Gay Date introduces us to Ben, a man in his early 30s who, we join during one of the most eventful nights of his life – just as he builds up the courage to admit that he is questioning his sexuality and because of this, to end his heterosexual 15-year relationship; he finds out he’s about to become a father. That same night, having bid a tearful goodbye to his ex-girlfriend, he embarks on his first-ever sexual encounter with a man.
The story follows Ben as he navigates the push and pull with Tim – a British-Jamaican man from London who finds himself in the same small northern town – veering between attraction, fear and curiosity as he stumbles through the complicated and unfamiliar rules of queer dating while carrying the new weight of impending fatherhood.
Set in a small northern industrial town, the play highlights the contrast between the idea of open queer life in a big city and the reality of a place where gay men feel they must hide, or at least play down their identity in their daily lives. In a community where it is easy to feel like the only one, Ben has never met another openly gay man before he meets Tim.
Tim, in turn, is one of the only black men in the area, which brings its own challenges in dealing with the racial microaggressions that are never more stark than when living in a small – and very white – northern town. Both characters carry the weight of being outsiders, finding themselves 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 faced within the queer community.
It also calls attention to the role of dating apps like Grindr in small towns, where gay men may only feel safe to be visible when they are alone, logging on after the pubs have closed, reflecting an unspoken truth of living as a gay man in a less-than-accepting environment. Daddy’s First Gay Date highlights that there is no single “gay experience” and instead it traces the gamut of what queer life in these places can involve: from daring to go on an openly gay date, to scrolling on Grindr after dark, to navigating secret liaisons, the pull of big-city nightlife, and the quieter reality of everyday work and family responsibility. At its heart, the play asks what it takes to move toward self-acceptance when you’re one of the only openly gay people in a small town, miles away from the visibility of a metropolitan hub.
Daddy’s First Gay Date is the new show from Sam Danson, following on from the success of his previous show BI-TOPIA, which received widespread critical praise. While coming-of-age comedy BI-TOPIA explored bisexual identity, Daddy’s First Gay Date considers what it means to accept queerness later in life in a place where it often remains unspoken, and how the queer experience can differ based on your race, gender or age.
He is joined by director Rikki Beadle-Blair, who has been credited with bringing Black, gay and working-class experiences to a wide audience, as writer and director of countless plays and films, and creator of the pioneering TV show Metrosexuality. He’s also established as a pivotal voice in championing LGBTQ+ stories and visibility, spanning a career that includes filmmaking, playwriting, acting, and direct activism.
Daddy’s First Gay Date plays at Seven Dials Playhouse between October 28 and November 16. Tickets are available here.
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