White Bear Theatre (studio)
Willie Elliot (director)
120 (length)
11 February 2026 (released)
5 h
Learning How To Dive at the White Bear Theatre is a finely observed, quietly powerful piece of storytelling that makes superb use of the intimate setting.
Brendan Murrey’s script and performance carry delightful echoes of Alan Bennett, through its wry, humane and wonderful observational dialogue. There is a warmth and precision to the writing that makes Brendan Murrey’s performance of Terry feel fully lived-in, with references that are not only perfectly placed but ring with almost disarming truthfulness.
His reminiscences feel honest rather than performative. Inviting the audience into his confidence.
At its heart, the play charts Terry’s life as the other man in a deeply closeted relationship. The narrative unfolds in fragments rather than a straight line, mirroring the way that memory itself works. What begins as a guarded, carefully controlled justification gradually deepens into something more vulnerable. Revealing the emotional cost of what has been hidden, shared or left unsaid for thirty years.
The opening of the play when Terry is confronted by his lovers son Matt (Darren Cheek) is particularly strong. The initial tension is subtle but unmistakeable, carefully observed in gesture and rhythm, and is deeply satisfying to watch as the emotional barriers slowly dismantle as the truth unfolds. This sense of earned intimacy is one of the production’s great strengths.
Act Two proves as effective by revealing events prior to Act One, reshaping our understanding of the narrative. Seeing the story through the emotional eyes of Matt’s mother, the spurned wife Jill (Karen Spicer), immediately after her husband’s funeral. This choice of order sharpens the emotional stakes and poignantly clarifies how much she might or might not have known about the man she was married to.
The direction by Willie Elliot is masterful, especially given the small space. Every choice feels intentional, focussed, and assured. Resulting in a production that is both restrained and deeply emotional.
Photo credit: Pori Smith
