Creator & Choreographer: Joel Bray
Collaborating Director: Stephen Nicolazzo
Collaborating Choreographer: Niharika Senapati
The audience enters to find Aboriginal choreographer Joel Bray lounging seductively on a pink candy-floss cloud, clad in nothing but tight pink lycra short-shorts. From the outset, Daddy promises a candy-coloured party of sugar and flirtatious participation. Yet beneath this playful, queer-coded exterior lies a deeply moving, vulnerable exploration of generational trauma and colonial disconnect.
Bray is a master of audience connection. Demonstrating warm spontaneity, he takes the time to introduce himself to almost everyone, holding onto names and inviting the crowd to sit on the floor as if gathering for story time. Here, he recounts the history of his Aboriginal grandmother and her marriage to a white man, tracing a direct line to the identity struggle and absence he feels today. From navigating gay subculture labels, where society deems him a “daddy”, to the ache of feeling disconnected from his ancestral language and traditional dance, Bray lays his heart entirely bare.
Striking visual imagery reinforces this tension. In one striking sequence, icing sugar falls over his body like snow, evoking both sugar cane slavery and traditional white face clay, while a prolonged, quiet embrace with a male audience member offers a brief, heart-wrenching glimpse of fleeting fulfilment.
The performance culminates in a glorious, messy climax as the audience transforms Bray into a living dessert, coating him in butter, sprinkles, cream, and sweets. Equal parts hilarious, heart-breaking, and provocative, Daddy soft-serves a poignant reflection on identity and loss, proving that the sweetest surfaces often conceal the deepest wounds.
Runs until 31 August 2026
The Reviews Hub Star Rating
80%
Sugar-coated gut-punch