The Daddy Issue is an intimate, harrowing exploration of grief, desire, and survival within the Black family unit. Set over the course of a single night, the piece follows a young recording artist reeling from the death of his mother as he searches for connection in the aftermath of loss.
What begins as a fleeting encounter with an older man at a bar slowly reveals itself to be something far more dangerous and transformative. As intimacy deepens, the lines between comfort and control, care and consumption, blur. The night becomes a reckoning, forcing the artist to confront how grief leaves the body open, and how longing can be weaponized in moments of vulnerability.
At once hilarious and heartbreaking, The Daddy Issue asks what it means to survive inheritance, to grieve in a world shaped by systemic inequity, and to choose life when desire threatens to eclipse self-preservation.
THE DADDY ISSUE
Written & Directed by
larryjean “Gene” powell
Live Performance Directed by
Devere Rogers
Cast
larryjean powell as Sonny
J. August Richards as Duke
Joy DeMichelle as Simone
Produced by
larryjean powell
Angelica Robinson
Samia Zaidi
Carter Redwood
Co-Producer
Bairton “Bair” Brown
Original Score and Sound Design
Mahlick Ceesay
Edited by
Matt Rasku
Erika Echeverry
Consulting Producers
Kenneth L. Roberson
williambryantmiles
Roger Q. Mason
Zhailon Levingston
Devere Rogers
Intimacy Coordinator
Joy DeMichelle
Live Production Stage Manager
Toya M. Nelson
Sound Team
Tim Murphy
Mahlick Ceesay
Orville Allen
Kevin Senzaki
Cinematographers
Alex U. Griffin
AJ Lovelace
Malachi Middleton
Matt Rasku
Samia Zaidi
Scenic Designer
Yohannes Yamassee
Hair & Makeup
Jason Shivers
Production Support
Wesley T. Jones
Taylor Artis
Kareem James
Byron Coolie
Sidney Edwards
Galen J. Williams
Rami Campbell
BTS Creative Director
Maela Way
Set Photographer
Ashton Pina
David Laffe
With deep gratitude to all community sponsors and supporters who make this work possible.
Recorded at
Television City, July 2024
-
The Origins of The Daddy Issue
The Daddy Issue originally began as a 10-minute play called “Easy to Fall in Love” starring Jaquay Lamar and Brian D. Coats, Directed by the legendary Tonya Pinkins along with TJ Weaver at Season 15 of The Iconic Fire This Time Festival in New York City (2015). It was then developed into a full-length play which also had its first public reading at The Fire This Time Festival the following year. The reading was directed by Chris D. Betts and starred Jonathan Burke, Terrence Riggins, and C. Kelly Wright (Feb 2nd, 2016).
Over the next decade, the play went on to be developed and workshopped all over the country—where Gene went, there, too, was The Daddy Issue aka Night Cap. Since a teenager, Gene had been fascinated with recording their plays for audio+camera. Later in 2016, they began to experiment with this cool, new invention of blue headphones that recorded sound in 3D created by their former classmate and colleague Anthony Mattana (Hooke Audio). Anthony would allow Gene to beta-test these headphones at both closed and public readings of the play cross-country.
Two experiments: one with Gene wearing them as an actor in the play (The Director’s Company in NYC with C. Kelly Wright and Jason Dirden), and one as an audience member during the live reading of the play held in the back of Akbar, famous gay bar and community oasis, in Silverlake, CA starring Matthew Hancock, Carolyn Michelle Smith, and Tory Andrus, Directed by Devere Rogers.
The play received developmental support from Jessica Hanna (in a private reading starring Devere Rogers, Damon Gupton, and Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Directed by Ian-Julian Williams), Diane Rodriguez (CTG), and Spencer J. Williams (Award-Winning Immersive/Experiential Producer). The Daddy Issue/Night Cap was also part of B Street Theatre’s Re-Imagine Social Justice Series in 2021 (programmed by Danielle Moné Truitt).
Most recently recorded as part of PASSION at Television City in July 2024 (Starring larryjean powell, J. August Richards, and Joy DeMichelle, Directed by Devere Rogers). As a writing sample, the strength of the piece has garnered Gene much opportunity in Hollywood’s TV/Film industry.
-
The Daddy Issue delves into themes of grief, connection, and the complexities of relationships in the Black Family Unit due to years of systemic inequities. What do Black Queer+ children do with their daddy issues? What about the affects of the 80’s crack epidemic on the black child growing up during that time in south central los angeles through a queer+ lens?