WHAT'S ON at WHITE BEAR THEATRE
Click on titles for direct link to box office
10 % off your food bill with a paper or digital ticket
Er.
20th - 26th August 2025
Jay and Tess are stuck in purgatory, waiting to be reborn. As they drift through the afterlife, deciding what they will become, they relive their past lives — tracing how a single house party brought them together, the paths they might have taken, and the choices that led to their deaths.
Transferring direct from Riverside Studios, and inspired by the central theme in Plato’s Myth of Er, Er interrogates reincarnation, karma, and the human craving for transcendence — even in a world of music, drugs, and chaos.
A bit Godot, a bit McPhereson, Er is as ambitious in its content as it is in form and style.
‘None of this is real.’
‘No, none of this actually happened.’
Praise for past work:
"**** A domestic sitcom from hell" — London Pub Theatres on Putrid Beauty (2023).
Polar Bears
by Mark Haddon
28th - 30th August
“Talking means nothing. Not until you’ve seen it. Not until you’ve been there.”
John has never met anyone like Kay. When the moon is in the right phase, she is magnetic and amazingly alive. But when the darkness closes in, she is lost to another world, a world in which John does not belong.
‘Polar Bears’ by award-winning ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ author Mark Haddon puts on full display the human struggle on behalf of a partner, a brother, and a mother to love, support and live with someone suffering from a psychological condition. Haddon’s writing is intelligent and vivid, refusing to temper the bursts of brutality and tenderness displayed by those embroiled in mental instability.
A Substitute For Life
By Simon Brett
Starring Tim Hardy
14th - 15th September
A dark Victorian thriller by celebrated crime writer Simon Brett.
‘Books are good enough in their own way, but they are a mighty bloodless substitute for life.’ Robert Louis Stevenson’s words have a particular resonance for Francis Kenworthy, a man who has always taken refuge in books to escape from the brutalities of everyday life and of his Victorian upbringing, until forced to face reality. In this taut psychological thriller, a violent outcome is tragically inevitable. Tim Hardy returns to The White Bear Theatre following his critically acclaimed performance as Leo in “The Value of Names” in February this year and his solo show “The Trials of Galileo” in autumn 2024.
‘absolutely spellbinding’ ★★★★1/2 Bouquets & Brickbats
‘a masterclass in the art of character acting’ ★★★★★ broadwaybaby.com
The Charlie Williams story
Written and directed by Chris England
9th - 20th September 2025
In the 1970s the biggest comedy show on television was ITV’s The Comedians. It took bow-tie comics from the Northern club circuit, put them on the screen for the very first time, and made them into overnight sensations. And the breakout star, the one who shone brightest of all, was Charlie Williams.
Charlie was the first black comedian to become a household name. With his toothy grin, his infectious laugh, and his incongruous thick South Yorkshire accent – ‘Tha’s right, love, right accent, wrong colour!’ – he paved the way for many who followed in his footsteps, such as Lenny Henry and Gary Wilmot.
It wasn’t only as an entertainer that Charlie was a pioneer who broke down barriers. He was one of the very few black professional footballers in the 1950s, playing for Doncaster Rovers. He was the only black lad at his school near Barnsley, and the only black lad down the mine when he left.
Perhaps his material would nowadays be considered questionable. But perhaps if you had lived his extraordinary life in a white man’s world – coal miner, footballer, cabaret singer, comedian – you’d have done the same.
Now, however, in retirement, Charlie faces an uncomfortable visit from a mysterious stranger who demands that he justify himself…
By Chris England (An Evening with Gary Lineker, Breakfast With Jonny Wilkinson, Bostock’s Cup)
Starring Tony Marshall (Casualty, Only Fools and Horses, Life on Mars, Death In Paradise)
Visitor played by Nick Denning-Read (Red Dwarf, Victoria, I Came By, Trigger Point)
Eh Up, Me Old Flowers! First appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe and this run at the White Bear is its London première.
Playwright Chris England says: ‘I was particularly drawn to Charlie’s remarkable life story because I too grew up in a mining town, not too far from Doncaster, and the great passions of my life have been football and comedy. So Charlie’s ups and downs always seemed to belong to one of our own.’
REVIEWS
‘Tony Marshall (Casualty) captures the very essence of Charlie Williams – the cheeky grin, pitch perfect comedy timing and of course the famous laugh – in a sharp script that combines classic gags with a wider examination of Williams and his place in the history of stand up comedy.’
British Comedy Guide Recommended
From the Creators of Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope, Howerd's End & Jarman
The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton
Written & Performed by Mark Farrelly
Directed by Linda Marlowe
25th - 27th September 2025
"The great problem with life is that you can get from one end of it to the other without ever feeling that another human being ever truly knew you”.
Winner of Best Solo Show (written by the performer) at the London Pub Theatre Awards, October 2023. The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton is a riveting, kinetic solo show which vividly portrays the life of one of the great English writers of the inter-war years. Patrick Hamilton (1904 – 1962) was a dazzling success whilst still in his twenties, producing the hit plays Rope and Gaslight, and classic novels like Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky, Hangover Square and The Slaves of Solitude. But he was also an alcoholic, whose wit became increasingly mordant as his inner and outer worlds collapsed. Set in an electro-therapy clinic in the 1950s, and covering the entire sweep of Hamilton’s turbulent life, The Silence of Snow has gripped audiences wherever it has been performed. An arresting blend of original writing and extracts from Hamilton’s finest works, the play is a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of not confronting one’s own inner chaos. It is also a hugely witty and engaging tribute to a great English writer.
The play is directed by Linda Marlowe, an acting legend for her lengthy collaboration with Steven Berkoff. She is also a hugely-acclaimed solo actress (The World’s Wife, Berkoff’s Women), and a star of EastEnders.
30th September - 4th October 2025
Annie and Harry, two voice actors, meet for the first time at a studio to record erotic audio porn. They want to keep it professional. But can two people with such different viewpoints really come together?
From writer / director Cerys Jones ('The Power of Camelot': Exeter Northcott; 'Cynefin': Bread and Roses Theatre) and following its successful 2024 run, 'The Work We Do' explores our relationship to work, sexuality, and the prejudices surrounding both.
Reviews
'Anticipate twists, turns, comedy, and conflict amidst the extended rumpy-pumpy.'
Reviews Hub
'Feisty conflict, believable characters, and gentle comedy'
London Pub Theatres
'Shipler Chico and Tusker have immense chemistry as the incompatible duo'
Reviews Hub
