Kindling at Park Theatre Review
Written by Bronagh for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Content warnings: bereavement, terminal illness, fertility and HRT, strong language.
Camping with four other people who you don’t know, the only common denominator your deceased friend? Getting lost? One two-person tent between you all? Sounds like a terrible evening, let’s be honest. This is the premise of Kindling, five menopausal women find themselves lost in the Welsh wilderness on a trip to scatter the late Mei’s ashes, as she wished.
We meet our five characters as they’re stumbling through the woodland, with no working compass, unable to read an Ordnance Survey map, and no phone signal. We have Jools (Stacy Abalogun) as our no-nonsense leader, Scarlett Alice Johnson is yoga mum Cathy (Kum Ba Yah included), Rendah Beshoori is ‘Posh Spice’ Jasmin, Ciara Pouncett is moody Sue, and Sarah Rickman (also the writer of Kindling) is ‘wreck it’ Rose, Mei’s sister in law. Five very different women, all united in their love and loss of Mei. I did enjoy every performance in their own ways, however, they felt too restricted by their ‘stereotype’ therefore not really developing.
The team finds their ‘home’ for the evening in a clearing, imagined beautifully by Abi Grove’s set design with crunching leaves and wonderful bird song. Rather predictably, it starts to pour down with rain, and the quintet seek solace in a bottle of wine and Waitrose picky bits as a few home truths come out and secrets are unravelled.
There’s no denying that parts of Kindling are funny, with slapstick-style humour and silly moments. Rose is the obvious funny member of the group from the get-go. True, she does have her fair share of entertaining moments, but she is almost a caricature of a pantomime character with her, at times, jarring, high-pitched voice and childlike demeanour. Parts also felt like they wore thin with quite obvious humour, and ‘too’ over the top. I was wincing at the shrieking and high-pitched squealing that we were privy to on a good few occasions throughout. Jools’s more dry humour was much more preferable to me, and probably the only character I particularly liked.
There are some good attempts at addressing real-life topics and taboos, from the menopause, to not wanting children, to cervical cancer, which claimed Mei’s life after she was too scared to go for a smear test. As a strong advocate for ensuring you go for your smear test as soon as you’re invited, I really do think this is some great and stark education. Likewise, for the discussion of menopause symptoms, I can see why this could be educational for viewers.
I do think Kindling could do with some sharpening in order to reach its full potential. More depth, less hysteria, and try hard humour as a starting point. I do also feel like the space could have been used more wisely; I, and the reviewer I was sitting next to, both missed a key part of Act One due to where it took place. Given Park90 is a small space it is surprising that we wouldn’t be able to capture everything going on. I did also find it slightly odd when characters left the stage for prolonged periods – I thought they were stuck in the rainy wilderness, not wanting to venture too far away?
Kindling is a good enough watch, but still not quite at its full potential. At the moment, much like the characters, it feels a little lost and unsure which way to go.
At The Park Theatre until 15th November 2025
★★★
