The Dawn of Reckoning – White Bear Theatre

Two women meet unexpectedly in the lobby bar of a small hotel in Bayswater at 3 am on a cold, foggy January morning. They recognise each other immediately: best friends at university they became estranged later as they sequentially married the same man, leaving a legacy of acrimony and guilt. They are both due to attend the reading of their former husband’s will the following day. Is this a chance meeting or has it been engineered, as they suspect, by their former husband or his agent?

As they talk, initially in a spirit of confrontation and hostility, fuelled by alcohol obtained from the bar, home truths begin to spill and a degree of understanding, if not empathy, emerges between them.

This is a two hander, no hotel staff appear. Ruth played by Jilly Bond hails from middle-class family in the south of England.  Helena, by contrast, played by Bryonie Pritchard, comes from the North of England, but this difference seems to be the foundation of their initial friendship as students. Both actresses are accomplished and experienced and portrayed their roles with a great deal of self-confidence and understanding. This is not a play in which much happens.  All is revealed in the conversation between the two in the course of 75 minutes. The direction by Matthew Parker was deft, with enough movement to keep the production engaging but not so much as to distract from the dialogue.

But is this play what it seems to be?  There are various clues to what might be going on. Occasionally during the action, the lights on stage flicker accompanied by a distorted crackling sound as the action pauses. After a few seconds all returns to normal. Is it really credible that two women with such an entangled backstory, who happen to be the only guests in this hotel, chose to go down to the bar in the middle of the night?  And why was the bar left unsecured, allowing them unrestricted access to alcohol?  A final clue is in the setting. The White Bear’s lovely little performance area was well dressed as a late 1970’s lobby bar with period furniture and lights. But the action of the play does not take place in the late1970s; the two characters have lived a long eventful lives between then and now and there are references to social media etc, which, of course, did not exist in the1970s.

So, what is the resolution? I cannot tell you. Not because of the critics’ credo not to provide spoilers, but because the playwright does not resolve the issue on the stage. I have my own theory as to what was happening, but that could be wrong. Come and see it and make up your own mind. An intriguing and puzzling evening of theatre.

The Dawn of Reckoning is playing at the White Bear Theatre in Kennington from 17th to 28th March.  Tickets are available from  https://www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk

Reviewer: Paul Ackroyd

Reviewed: 19th March 2026

North West End UK Rating: