one4review | On 21, Aug 2026

There’s something inherently metaphorical about a static bike – a form of transport that

goes nowhere regardless of how long you ride. Motion without movement. The act of

pushing forwards while remaining still. It’s perhaps unsurprising that it therefore makes

the perfect setting for a story all about the inherent futility of living your life trying to

attain perfection, whether that’s having the perfect body or being the perfect daughter

and partner.

SpinQueen (trademark) is the semi-autobiographical story of Meg (Megan Tomei), a spin

class instructor whose lifetime of people pleasing and self-destructive perseverance to be

the best are coming crashing down around her ears, no matter how hard she peddles.

Clipped into the bike on stage, she preaches the sermon of spin, while going over the parts

of her life that led her to this point. At the end she is breathless and bloody and the cost

of her constant climbing to an impossible perfection are laid bare.

The show is impressive, not just in the sheer ability for Tomei to deliver almost the entire

thing while exercising (a herculean feat that fitness instructors are never fully appreciated

for) really putting the physical into “physical theatre” but also the dark poetry of many of

the lines and how they reframe a culture of fitness into a cult of systematic self-harm.

The one-woman show does feel perhaps a bit “American” for a British audience and the

emotional rawness and vulnerability on display may make the occasional humorous

moment hit a bit oddly for those less familiar with the style. That said, there’s no denying

the talent of the performance.

My only issue with the performance is that the story felt a little unfinished, with Tomei

only discussing herself as she was when she was in the depths of her destructive cycle

(pun not intended, but also not regretted). The Meg of today has clearly done a lot of work

on herself to identify and address the traumas that she suffered yet we never get to hear

that story which, at least to me, was an oversight. But maybe I’m just a sucker for a

(comparatively) happy ending.

Overall, SpinQueen (trademark) is a powerful performance and comment on the way

people – particularly women – are pushed to push themselves ever further, even when

they’re going nowhere.

****
Reviewed by Tom

19:35

7th-29th (not Sun)

Jade Studio at Greenside @ George Street