Review: THE SPIRAL PATH by Andrew Craig Sharpe at White Bear Theatre, Kennington 22 - 26 March 2022

‘beautifully written, funny and perceptive’ ★★★★

Is there one true love for all of us? And if there is, what are the chances of you finding yours in a world that contains 7.9 billion people, never mind all the ones you have missed because they have lived their lives already? Andrew Craig Sharpe’s funny, perceptive play explores these and many more themes, notably friendship, fraternity, grief and identity, in a crisp, episodic 100 minutes.

A play that began as a one-act piece has developed into a rounded portrayal of how we take the spiral path towards fulfilment, centring on a triangle of Edward (Jonny D’Spena) who loses a wife, Kirsty (Georgina Bennet) whom he didn’t love and finds, in his grief and his inability to let her go, the person he does love in her best friend, George (Claire Jared).

The play is beautifully written, constantly upsetting expectations as what appear to be almost stock situations – a man and a woman chatting in a café, say – turn on an unexpected line into something confusing and unforeseen. It’s also superbly performed, particularly in Jared’s portrayal of a woman coping with disappointment and loss, and in a lovely, gentle, bewildered turn from Paul Manuel as an elderly gent who appears in a perfect framing device that bookends the play’s opening and denouement.

The final character, an interfering mother/mother-in-law (Jill Priest, who plays it well) is a little stereotypically irritating without being comic, and the transitions between the scenes are a little clunky, sometimes killing the pace and tension a little. But there is real tenderness and comedy in both writing and performance as Edward finds his way to letting go of his grief and his guilt about Kirsty and finds his way towards George.

Images: Origin8photography

THE SPIRAL PATH by Andrew Craig Sharpe, Directed by Kat Rogers

White Bear Theatre, Kennington     

22 to 26 March 2022

Box Office: https://www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk/whatson/The-Spiral-Path

Reviewer:

David Weir’s plays include Confessional (Oran Mor, Glasgow), Better Together (Jack Studio, London). Those and others performed across Scotland, Wales and England, and in Australia, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium. Awards include Write Now Festival prize, Constance Cox award, SCDA best depiction of Scottish life, Joy Goun award, and twice Bruntwood longlisted.