Why were two women sitting in a hotel bar at 3am – both of whom had once been married to the same man?
It’s a premise that instantly intrigues, and one that proves more than enough to draw the audience into this compelling two-hander at the White Bear Theatre.
Set in a hotel in affluent Bayswater, the bar feels faintly at odds with its surroundings, its more suburban B&B than a polished West London establishment, with a kitsch charm that brings to mind something run by a larger-than-life EastEnders landlady. Thankfully, the cocktail bar is well stocked, which suits Helena perfectly. Unable to sleep, and dressed in pyjamas, she (played by Bryonie Pritchard) pours herself a generous bourbon… and then several more.
Enter Ruth (Jilly Bond), draped in a luxurious red satin robe with a matching headdress – impeccably put together, even at this ungodly hour. Her shock at encountering Helena is matched only by Helena’s disbelief: the two women have not seen each other for 25 years, ever since Ruth left with Helena’s husband, Anthony/Tony. It’s an electrifying setup.
Over the next hour, the play deftly unravels their shared history. Once close friends from university days, their bond fractured irreparably under the weight of betrayal. The emotional terrain is rich, and the script allows both characters to reveal themselves gradually, peeling back layers of resentment, longing, and unresolved grief.
The contrast between the two women is striking. Helena is brash, forthright, and emotionally raw, a doctor whose confidence borders on aggression. Pritchard gives her a physicality that leans towards the masculine, pacing the room with restless, simmering anger. Ruth, by contrast, is composed and outwardly refined. Bond plays her with a quiet intensity: tight-lipped, controlled, yet clearly on the brink of emotional rupture. Her constant reapplication of make-up becomes a subtle but effective motif – an attempt to maintain composure as the past threatens to overwhelm her.
It quickly becomes clear that Helena’s bitterness has never faded, while Ruth carries a more complex emotional burden. In one of the play’s more poignant revelations, she confides that Anthony/Tony, now deceased, remained in love with Helena throughout his life, and in later years could scarcely bear to be in the same room as his second wife. It’s a cruel irony that deepens the emotional stakes and reframes everything we’ve seen.
The play moves fluidly between humour and hostility, nostalgia and accusation, ultimately steering toward a theme as old as drama itself: forgiveness. Their journey from confrontation to something approaching reconciliation feels moving.
However, an unexpected supernatural thread runs through the production. Flickering lights punctuate the action, initially seeming like technical glitches but soon revealing themselves as deliberate. Whether these disturbances are meant to signal Anthony’s/Tony’s lingering presence, or something more abstract, is left ambiguous… for the moment.
While others may appreciate the added layer of mysticism, I found it disrupted the otherwise grounded emotional realism of the piece. The strength of the play lies in its characters and performances, both of which are more than capable of holding the audience without spectral embellishment.
That said, this is ultimately a matter of taste. What cannot be disputed is the quality of the performances. Both Pritchard and Bond are seasoned actors who bring depth, nuance, and credibility to their roles. Their chemistry – fraught, tender, and unpredictable – anchors the entire production.
The script also delivers a couple of well-judged twists, which land effectively and keep the audience engaged.
While the supernatural dimension didn’t quite work for me, The Dawn of Reckoning remains an absorbing and well-acted piece of theatre. If you’re open to a touch of the paranormal alongside your emotional drama, it may resonate more strongly.
Review by Bernadette Lintunen
“No-one can change the past, Helena. If I could I would. Of course I would.”
Ruth and Helena meet seemingly by chance in the lounge bar of The Clevedon Hotel, Bayswater at 3am on a cold, foggy January morning. Helena, a paediatric neurosurgeon, and Ruth, a children’s book illustrator, were once best friends who met at university.
A case of ‘opposites attract’, sexually liberated former punk princess Helena, and mother’s girl from the home counties Ruth seem to have fallen out over the man to whom they were, at different times, married. Now both 65 years old and estranged for more than 25 years, their reunion seems at first to have happened by chance. But has it?
Ruth – Jilly Bond
Helena – Bryonie Pritchard
Writer and Producer – Mark Bastin
Director – Matthew Parker
Designer – Hannah Williams
Lighting – Abbie Sage
THE DAWN OF RECKONING
White Bear Theatre
17 to 28 March 2026
