As expected from a one-person production, the highlight of the show was obviously Cristiano Benfenati who took on the immense role of the deeply flawed father who goes through the full spectrum of human emotions captured flawlessly by the incredibly talented performer! The character opens the show by talking about the sweet, wholesome moments he shares with his daughter including a fantastic sequence where The Father shares his love and experience of dance parties but this does take a dark turn as he subtly starts to sexualise the series of dance moves shared. This sequence starts the journey of this deeply flawed character who has to quickly adapt to life as a father where the tender moments really humanise this fictitious character.
One of the most impressive things about this production is the fact that it is not only inspired by the Bouffon style of clowning that traditionally uses visibly grotesque characters that showcase some form of satire but also totally subverts the art form as the Father is dressed as a normal everyday person.This purposeful inclusion was intended to show that the traditionally grotesque elements are not on the outside of the character but are, in fact inside the psyche of the narrator, and also helps to highlight that these horrific actions are in fact done by normal everyday people fairly frequently. During the later parts of the show, the audience began to see the more grotesque side of the character where many audience members visibly shudder as he gets closer to them and the intensity was palpable in the room which was a testament to the incredible performance of Christano.
It was only via the question and answer segment with the creative team at the end of the show that I realised that this discomfort was purposeful as it highlights a journey of tolerance society has towards misogyny. The show begins with a series of lighthearted observations/jokes about how during the lengthy birth of his own daughter the father is bored and tired which was initially met with laughter from the audience. This sequence was perfectly structured as it contained a series of comedic observations with the couple initially being hypnotherapy advocates but as the birth progresses this becomes a thing of the past as the father feels the pressure to make the decision surrounding how his child is delivered into the world.
This transitioned wonderfully into a story of the father talking about attempting to prank his female neighbour with urine disguised as lemonade and recess disguised as chocolate truffles. This childish prank was met with slightly muffled laughter from some audience members but the chuckles were audibly reduced from the earlier story. Later in the production the lead character shares a story of scaring yet another female friend in the deep freezer of someone else’s house which led to the victim being admitted to a medical facility as friends involved with the prank almost gaslighted and distanced themselves from the poor girl they forced into an asthma attack. As this involved the actual harm of an innocent person, the audience reacted even less as they began to notice a pattern of mistreatment of female performers by the lead performer. I have to admit that there was a point in the show where I started to feel as if the performance had gone a step too far as the father began talking about his affairs and the fetishisation of Asian people and how frequently these things happen around the world. The real uncomfortableness was really amplified as the audience is informed that this character had watched a pornographic movie that verged on rape/sexual assault yet, even after acknowledging this fact with his friend, the narrator decided to return to the clip to fully enjoy sexually. This sequence was met by total silence from the audience as every single person was stunned into silence as they began thinking that this story had gone too far. It was only upon reflection after the aforementioned Q and A that I realised that this uncomfortableness was purposeful as the creative team had used true stories throughout the show which encourages the audience to take a look at themselves and see where their line of tolerance is and if we laugh at the earlier jokes we are in part encouraging the later behaviour.
In conclusion, Daughter by the Little Lion Productions is an intense and gripping story that highlights the true extent of these real-world stories and how frequently they occur. This is absolutely a show for a more mature audience due to strong language, sexual depictions, drug references and depictions of violence throughout and is at times a very difficult watch but Daughter is one of the most important pieces of theatre I have ever seen. Leaving the venue I have since been involved with many conversation surrounding the topics covered which is a testament to not only how wonderfully it was captured but also shows that even after ten years since is conception, this show is still very needed and insanely important! As the lead and solo performer Christiano manages to flawlessly capture every step of the character’s journey which makes for a totally gripping watch where the audience is tensely waiting to see what happens next. The show itself is fairly stripped back in terms of production value but Cristiano Benfenati can easily capture the audience from the very moment he steps onto the stage which is no easy feat! I would rate this production 4.5 stars out of 5!
Rhysreviews 