Franklin, a young black artist on the eve of his first show, meets Andre, an older white art collector, and before long their feverish connection develops into an unbreakable bond.
But when Franklin’s mother, Zora, decides that her son is in peril, she enters into a battle of wills with Andre over the soul of the man they both call ‘baby’.
Basquiats and Birkins, gospel and pop, fantasy and reality: all collide around a Bel Air swimming pool in this deeply surreal exploration of intimacy and identity.
“Daddy” is Jeremy O. Harris’s blistering melodrama, first performed in New York City in 2019, and at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2022, directed by Danya Taymor.
‘A provocatively brilliant, or perhaps brilliantly provocative new play. Harris is clearly having a moment’
— Newsday
‘Visually, physically, and narratively, there is nothing as involving and thought-provoking on the New York stage right now as “Daddy” – in all its pain and all its pleasure’
— Daily Beast
‘A masterpiece that doesn’t so much pull the rug from under you as yank it, then stick around to laugh at you lying on the floor, dazed and bewildered… there’s no danger of you forgetting “Daddy”‘
— Independent
‘A gleeful killing spree of sacred cows and sensitivities… a thrilling, jolting experience, boldly conceived and staged’
— Evening Standard
‘Bold, brawny, and flamboyantly theatrical… thrilling’
— Guardian
‘Dripping with impish provocation: hilarious, unruly and sometimes joltingly sad… very obviously the work of a distinctive, freewheeling imagination, fizzing with talent and invention. It’s electric’
— iNews
‘Thrillingly inventive… fizzingly original… gloriously playful and strange’
— Time Out
