Daddy’s First Gay Date Makes London Debut at Seven Dials Playhouse This Autumn

A new play exploring masculinity, fatherhood, shame and coming out in your 30s is coming to London’s Seven Dials Playhouse this autumn. Daddy’s First Gay Date, written and performed by Manchester-based Sam Danson, runs from 28th October – 16th November and is directed by acclaimed LGBTQ+ advocate Rikki Beadle-Blair.

The play follows Ben, a man in his early 30s facing one of the most eventful nights of his life. Just as he builds up the courage to end a 15-year heterosexual relationship and admit he is questioning his sexuality, he learns he is about to become a father. That same evening, he embarks on his first-ever sexual encounter with a man.

What follows is a sharply comic and emotionally honest story about attraction, fear and self-discovery. As Ben stumbles through the unfamiliar rules of queer dating, he meets Tim, a British-Jamaican man from London who is also navigating life as an outsider in a predominantly white northern town. The play explores how both men carry the weight of expectation and difference, from racial microaggressions to the silence around queerness in small communities.

Set in a northern industrial town, Daddy’s First Gay Date contrasts metropolitan queer visibility with the reality of places where gay men often feel they must hide their identity. It also highlights the role of dating apps like Grindr in small towns, where visibility is often confined to late-night logins after the pubs have closed. At its heart, the play asks what it takes to move toward self-acceptance when you are one of the only openly gay people in your community.

Danson’s debut show BI-TOPIA was praised by The Stage as “extremely moving, nuanced… steeped in humour” (★★★★). While BI-TOPIA explored bisexual identity, Daddy’s First Gay Date considers what it means to embrace queerness later in life, and how that experience shifts depending on race, gender and age.

Director Rikki Beadle-Blair has long been credited with bringing Black, gay and working-class experiences to a wide audience, through theatre, film, TV and direct activism. The cast features Sam Danson as Ben, Dior Clarke as Tim, and Megan Edmondson as Helen.

Daddy’s First Gay Date runs at Seven Dials Playhouse from 28th October – 16th November 2025. For tickets and more information, visit: https://www.sevendialsplayhouse.co.uk/shows/daddys-first-gay-date