A new play recently ran Off-Off-Broadway featuring tennis star Rafael Nadal in a same-sex marriage. Playwright Peter Gil-Sheridan penned “The Rafa Play” as a “self-indulgent” exploration of “what a perfect life would look like for me.”
The play revolves around a gay character’s marriage to the superstar, following him to his home in Spain and around the world on the star’s tennis tour. Of course the marriage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be in the writer’s head, as the reality of the relationship-drag of touring the world takes its toll.
Nadal has never said he’s gay, and has been dating his girlfriend, Xisca Perelló, since 2015.
Nadal has no personal connection to the play, as he and his team were not part of its development. According to Gil-Sheridan, Nadal’s character in the play is not “gay,” but rather a “gay icon.” Married to a man.
If you want to take a dip into Nadal’s “totally absurd” gay marriage (the writer’s words, not mine), you’ll have to wait for it to pop up again as it closed over the weekend in New York’s Flea Theater. Check in with The Pool Pop-Up Theater Company if you’re interested.
