El nedador del mar secret

William Kotzwinkle

A reflection on the short distance between life and death and, nevertheless, a lesson of hope.

El nedador del mar secret is the story of the difficult birth of a child told by his father. The night run to the hospital in a cold winter, what could have been and was not. William Kotzwinkle's novel about the loss of a child destroys any kind of idealisation of childbirth and speaks, with poetic language and restrained emotion, of the acceptance of harsh reality.

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There are many reasons for bringing William Kotzwinkle’s novel Swimmer in the Secret Sea to the stage: the beauty of the story, the sensitivity in explaining in an illuminating way the pain caused by death, the generosity of the writer sharing such intimate events so that we don’t feel alone even when times are dark. We also hear a father’s perspective on the experience of childbirth and the loss of a child. Lately, however, rereading the novel, with the impact of a pandemic in which thousands of fellow citizens have died alone, in which family and friends have not had the space to say goodbye or accompany each other in their final moments, Kotzwinkle speaks to us of a deep, simple, human way of saying goodbye. And I hope that sharing what Swimmer tells us heals us all a little.


Jumon Erra, director of the show.

• Show included in the season tickets.