How I Learned to Swim review – a dive into the deep waters of Black aquatic history

The depths plumbed by Somebody Jones ’s new play are extraordinary as one woman’s swimming lessons open up an expansive world of aquatic Black history and myth. Jones glides deftly enough between the youth and adulthood of reluctant 30-year-old newbie swimmer Jamie, who is haunted by her brother’s disappearance. But she also manages to place Jamie’s encounters with her instructor and a spiritual guide against a backdrop including the “Middle Passage” of the transatlantic slave trade, the watery Afrofuturist world of Drexciya and the legacy of segregated swimming pools in the US.

Jones, an Angeleno now living in London, adds British history, too, by referencing Paul Marshall, one of the first Black swimmers to represent Great Britain at the Olympics. Her monologue provides ample reasoning for why, according to recent Sport England statistics , 95% of Black adults do not swim.

Presented by Prentice Productions in association with Brixton House, the play is staged by Emma Jude Harris with an assurance that matches the script. Debbie Duru’s set has a platform tiled in white and blue, with the handles of a pool ladder, surrounded by rubber flooring. It is coolly lit by Ali Hunter, while composer Nicola T Chang’s sound design includes echoey waterdrops.

Added to Jones’s sensory detail, it means you can almost sniff the chlorine, which Jamie likens to the smell of anxiety. Frankie Hart is excellent in the role, holding apprehension in her body and then physically evoking her first plunges. Jamie starts by remembering her first pool party as a nervous nine-year-old and Hart manages to retain an element of youth in her delivery, including a degree of giddy-stroppy behaviour about her lessons as an adult. This delicate balancing act helps a serpentine production just about land its magical-realist conclusion, by which time Jones has steeped water in personal and historical trauma.

Swimming brings Jamie an increased sense of independence but Jones emphasises the essentially communal properties of water itself, which will support Jamie if she has faith when easing herself into it. Not every supporting character emerges clearly from this odyssey but its aquatic world becomes a compelling, ultimately unfathomable protagonist.

• At Roundabout @ Summerhall, Edinburgh , until 26 August. Then at Bristol Old Vic , 17-21 September.