The Retreat – White Bear Theatre, Kennington

Writer: Sam Bain 

Reviewer: Christine Stanton 

“More drama than comedy“

3 / 5

~This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub ~

Luke is on a retreat in the Scottish Highlands – in training to become a Buddhist monk, he is dedicated to elevating his spirituality and leaving his old lifestyle behind. Easier said than done, especially when his brother turns up with a bag of cocaine and a desperate plea for him to return back to London with him.  

Luke (Jed McLoughlin) lived a lavish life in the City before finding Buddhism. He worked at a high-powered job and was practically chained to his desk to earn his huge salary, that was often spent on his prostitute addiction. After being let go from the firm and breaking up with his girlfriend after a fight that went wrong, he wound up at a spiritual festival, where he found Buddhism, meditation and new crush – Tara (Cara Heal). His infatuation with her encouraged him to join her on a retreat in the mountains for 3 months, committed to helping her Buddhist centre as much as possible, even if that means selling his flat back home to make a large donation to her fundraising efforts. Much to the dismay of brother Tony (Harry Harding), who currently lives at said flat, and is struggling financially after having to quit his job with Deliveroo and sell his bike to make ends meet. Tony isn’t religious – choosing to worship at the altar of drugs and alcohol instead, baffled as to why Luke would suddenly want to take a path of celibacy and purity instead of living life to the full back in London with him.  

The two brothers are both purposefully wildly unlikeable personalities. Luke is smug and patronising, his faux spirituality built on wanting to get close to fellow retreater Tara, constantly showing his disdain towards his brothers’ failures. Tony is irresponsible and aggressive, never planning for the future and neglecting his teenage daughter after she caught him having an affair. Anger aside, it’s clear he truly cares about his brother, even though his initial reason for interrupting the retreat is to ask for a bunch of cash to help pay off his loan shark debts. There are glimmers of touching moments between the pair, one notable moment being when Luke reveals his depression, and another when they discuss the death of their parents – giving some appreciated context into their personas.  

Billed as a comedy from co-creator of Peep Show, Fresh Meat and Four Lions (Sam Bain) there is an expectation that this show would be a lot funnier than it actually is. While there are comedic moments and humorous one-liners (“Do you feel lucky, monk?”) the bulk of this production is more drama than comedy – with a strong focus on the exploration of spiritualism and debate on whether that lifestyle is right or wrong. The one-act runtime of 90 minutes helps to keep the pace progress nicely, though there are a few scenes that feel a bit too unnecessarily repetitive and could quite easily be chopped to make the storyline a little more succinct. 

McLoughlin and Harding are enjoyable to watch, both hitting the required comedic cues needed. Heal interacts well with the pair, helping to break up the two-hander with the introduction of her character. It’s an enjoyable show, but it needs a bit more bite to really excel.  

Runs Until 13 April 2024