Daughter, Battersea Arts Centre review – ‘engrossing misadventures in fatherhood’

daughter, Battersea Arts Centre review
'Daughter' at the Battersea Arts Centre 'til 28th March.

Daughter, Battersea Arts Centre review ★★★★☆ by Ifan Llewelyn

There are very few works of theatre that manage to leave you well and truly shaken. Moved, maybe, but as far as wrenching your gut to the point of convolution it’s quite rare. It’s not an over-exaggeration to say that daughter is one such rare production. Written and performed by Adam Lazarus, this one-man show is deceptively simple but leaves a lasting impact. Delving into the murky and toxic waters of modern-day masculinity, this piece develops to a crushing crescendo that is sure to unsettle you.

Casually strolling onto the stage, Adam Lazarus appears in nothing but a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a hoodie. His daughter’s fairy wings are strapped to his shoulders, he warmly introduces himself and his daughter via one of their dance parties. “This is how my six-year-old daughter dances” he explains before grinding his hips and seductively gyrating. He gives a knowing look to a laughing audience before explaining “No, of course not. This is how my daughter dances.” He fist-bumps and strikes childish poses to the cloying beat of ‘Everything Is Awesome’. A song that has tortured parents for the past six years. 

As The Father, Adam recalls how his daughter made her way into his life. He thinks back to how he experienced his wife’s pregnancy, all the worry it caused him and how he felt in a very “what to expect when you’re wife’s expecting” kind of way. You’re lulled into his life as a new father trying his best to raise a daughter in this world. It isn’t until he delves into his experience of the world that the cracks begin to emerge. From anecdotes of school-yard pranks gone wrong to debauched trips to Japanese strip clubs, his backstory of being a man in the world is undeniably familiar. When the stories begin to darken and become a little more uncomfortable, your stomach can’t help but churn at how relatable they still are. 

Distilled in this one troubled man and his misadventures in raising his daughter, this show successfully encapsulates a lot of our society’s unspoken ills. Sexual violence, male privilege, internalised misogyny. It’s all here, translated into horrifyingly common anecdotes. Since Lazarus has done such meticulous work in endearing himself to you, you can’t help but forgive him for a lot of what he’s done. It’s terrifying to realise how far things have progressed before you see the severity of the acts you’ve already forgiven him for. 

Under Anne-Marie Kerr’s direction, Adam Lazarus gives an electrifying performance that succeeds in garnering sympathy and disgust in equal parts. The tragedy of this piece is that it’s a gripping piece of theatre, but theatre nonetheless, and therefore won’t make its way in front of the venerators of the masculinity it so masterfully complicates. 

daughter is at the Battersea Arts Centre, Battersea SW11 5TN ‘til 28th March.

READ MORE related to Daughter at Battersea Arts Centre review: 

The Rage of Narcissus, The Pleasance review – ‘sex, murder and masterful autoficition’

Advertisement