Writer: Brendan Murray
Director: Willie Elliot
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Tender & Touching”
3.5 / 5
Exploring love, loss, secrets and sadness, Brendan Murray’s touching drama is a tender tribute to romance, and the lengths we go to, to keep it.
When Matt’s (Darren Cheek) father dies, he doesn’t expect to find a suitcase full of secrets pertaining to his fathers 30+ year long affair with another man. Alongside navigating his grief, shock and staying strong for his mother, he’s desperate to meet the man that took his fathers time, attention and heart for all of those years. Terry (Brendan Murray) is devastated to find out the news, their treasured years of stolen moments and heartfelt letters snatched away from him. Matt and Terry’s introduction to each other forms the storyline within the first act of the show, a week after the funeral. The second half, focuses on Matt’s mum Jill (Karen Spicer) on the day of the funeral, where she has also discovered her husband’s secret, unbeknownst to Matt.
The navigation of emotions from all three characters is wonderfully explored within Murray’s script. Matt’s anger and confusion is clearly showcased, and also a brief moment of smugness when he claims a memory for his family back from Terry cleverly included to give a believable range to his character. Jill is stoic, but sad, she had suspected an affair for a long time, but being presented with the evidence hurts her – not for herself, but the loneliness and anguish her husband must have felt. Terry’s pain is palpable from the very beginning, never fully able to relish in the relationship, he has lived his life in snippets, grieving not only for the man he lost, but also the relationship they never had. It’s a remarkably affecting narrative, and despite the subject matter – it’s never delivered with explosive revelations or tense altercations. It instead, focuses on the ordinary, simple moments, which extracts some wonderfully believable conversations between the characters.
Having the perspective from all three characters is enjoyable, and though we never meet the deceased, his character is well established from their descriptions of him. There are a few moments, where it would have be nice to have slightly more from the narrative, at points the intrigue fizzling out, as the conversations themselves start to run somewhat dry, but overall it does manage to keep the pace well within the 90 minute runtime. It’s intriguing to see how their opinions and memories of him differ or match, and their touching reflections on a man they were all close to, as well as their internal battles on how to proceed moving forward, bring a sweet softness to the endearing, well-layered storyline.
Runs until 21st February 2026
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