REVIEW: LEARNING HOW TO DIVE at White Bear Theatre 10 – 21 February 2026
‘nuanced, sensitive, lyrical in the recalling of past moments of tenderness’ ★★★★
Brendan Murray has written a piece that feels somewhat conventional, somewhat old fashioned. It’s a two-act play, first act a two-hander, second act pretty much a monologue, reflecting on relationships and bereavement, loss and loneliness, and just how hard it is to know another human being even if they’re your parent. What distinguishes it and makes it a remarkable event is the delicacy and truth in the writing, and the well realised character work of all three actors.
The play opens in the slightly chaotic living room of an elderly man, Terry (Brendan Murray) comfortable in his pyjamas and zip-up cardy at all hours of the day. He receives a surprise visit from a young man, a stranger, bringing him a letter from the young man’s father. The young man is Matt (Darren Cheek), and his father he has just discovered, was for many years Terry’s lover. Dealing with his father’s sexuality, and perhaps even more his father’s betrayal of himself and his mother and brother, makes Matt angry and bitter. Darren Cheek plays this beautifully, making that resentment vivid and perfectly reasonable. He gets drawn into a long conversation with Terry, that lets him see the impetus behind his father’s actions, and to appreciate the bond of affection between the two men as they age together and find fewer and fewer opportunities to share their love. Brendan Murray makes Terry so sympathetic, and so bereft. It is a remarkably true and deftly played conversation, nuanced, sensitive, lyrical in the recalling of past moments of tenderness.
The second act is set in the preceding day. It involves Barry’s wife Jill (Karen Spicer) and Matt coming home from the funeral, getting her things together to stay in a hotel while matt sorts the house out. Jill starts talking to dead Barry, telling him of the separation and loneliness she felt as he withdrew from her, suspecting him of having an affair, discovering the nature of his betrayal. Again, a simple reveal, but played so truly it brings home her complicated feelings. The act concludes with her discovery of the letter that Matt will deliver/ has delivered.
Directed by Willie Elliott, produced by Damn Cheek Theatre, played for a sold-out week at Kennington’s White Bear Theatre, Learning How to Dive represents to a very high degree old-fashioned virtues of storytelling, ensemble acting, and finding emotional resonance and truth. If it goes to another venue, it is a play to treasure.
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Website https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/damn-cheek-productions-cic
Photo credit Pori Smith
