REVIEW: BREEDING at Kings Head Theatre 21 March – 14 April 2024

“A powerhouse piece of theatre” ★★★★

Returning to the King’s Head Theatre after an acclaimed first run in 2023, Breeding by Barry McStay has elevated itself, with a few tweaks, to a powerhouse piece of theatre. The queer adoption play directed this time by Tom Ratcliffe, is refreshing in that it presents us with the typically heteronormative formula of meet, kiss, fall in love, move in and marry from a gay perspective, but without passing judgement on that lifestyle, and still retaining something intrinsically and consciously queer. Zeb (Dan Nicholson) and Eoin (Barry McStay) have done all these things, and now there’s only one thing left to do: have a baby…the gay way. As they undergo a deeply probing and personal inquisition conducted by caseworker Beth (Nemide May), we get to know the couples’ story – their secrets, fears, and desires – as well as Beth’s own home life and struggle to parenthood, while she decides whether or not these men should be fathers.

It is an impressive play, with highly accomplished, rhythmic dialogue delivered on the whole with musicality and finesse, with a terrifically natural and confident performance from Dan Nicholson as Zeb especially. A colourful Matilda-esque set juxtaposed against a somehow menacing Southwark Adoption Service Statement of Purpose backdrop makes a stark visual reminder of the justified but inherent unfairness of a route that some people have no choice but to make. And Zeb and Eoin’s very real personal life, through flashbacks, relationship cracks, domestic frustrations, and an unexpected illness, all takes place in front of the exhaustive adoption workbook that forms the wallpaper behind them, and a winding path to parenthood in front of them. This fusion of cerebral drama and physical set is a testament to the fantastic design by Ruby Law, who also took care of costumes.

The sheer number of hoops these perfectly flawed human beings have to jump through raises very powerful moral and ethical questions, but the piece does so fair-mindedly, without indignation, or righteousness: itself a rare quality that allows the audience to form their own views. McStay’s writing is absolutely excellent, it must be said, from the first word to the last. A shout-out too for the seamless light and sound, by Rachel Sampley and Jac Cooper respectively, complementing the scenes and providing for clear and smart transitions. The same goes for Ratcliffe’s direction, which teases out the nuance beautifully.

At a push, you might find the ending a bit sentimental, but the overriding, almighty force in the play is love; in all its forms and flaws, it bursts with it. And that, after all, is what makes a great dad.

Breeding by Barry McStay

Directed by Tom Ratcliffe

Produced by Gabriella Sills Productions & Seabright Live

Associate Producer - Mark Gatiss

Kings Head Theatre, 21 March – 14 April 2024

Box Office: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/breeding

Reviewed by Alix Owen