About the Play:

Daddies has long been a favourite of acting teachers for it's 'two-hander' structure and its brisk, demanding dialogue.

Daddies is a full-length comedic drama by Douglas Gower. At Christmas the biological father visits the home in which his children live with their mother and her current companion, who has taken over the paternal role. They both assert their legitimate claims to the love and loyalty of two small children and question one another's motivations, testing gracious behaviour with their various fears and needs.

Daddies is a two-character play that revolves around George, who has been living with a woman who is divorced with two small children for the past year, awaits the arrival of Carl. The play takes place during the Christmas season and the mother and children are out of the house. Carl is the deserted husband and the biological father of the children. He is also a member of a religious sect called The World Family Church. When Carl arrives, George is torn between ridiculing him as a harmless crackpot, and fearing him as a very real threat to his role as father. Carl, on the other hand, is concerned with the spiritual welfare of his children. The resulting confrontation is at times funny, at times heartbreaking; and ultimately, the plight of George, a man desperate for love and normality in a broken world, is deeply affecting. Daddies is a play that addresses the changing nature of the family in our society.

Daddies was first presented in 1977 at Julian Theatre and San Francisco and premiered professionally later that same year at the famed Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the annual Festival of New American Plays. The New York premiere was in 1983 at Vineyard Theatre off-off-Broadway in New York City. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and has been performed in fringe festivals and regional theatres and in high school and college theatre productions as a showcase of student talent.

Cast: 2 male

About the Playwright:

Douglas Gower is an American playwright and screenwriter.