‘Spin’ Is A Darkly Comic Look At Diet Culture And The Fitness Industry: Review

CW: disordered eating and compulsive exercise. If you require support, please visit Beat’s website.

Spin transports the audience into a spin class lead by writer and performer Kate Sumpter. A dedicated and extremely perky performer, she is preparing for an audition for one of the world’s biggest fitness brands (she can’t tell us who, but here’s a hint: it rhymes with Pole Bycle). She believes that spin saved her life: it was the only thing that helped her to lose weight after she was bullied at school, so it must be great for everyone. Right?

Through short monologues interspersed with frantic spin sequences, the instructor tells us about her past. We learn about her mother, who forced diet culture onto her when she was young. Her younger sister Faith always blocked this out, but begins a weight loss journey following encouragement from the instructor. It takes Sumpter multiple attempts to tell us what happened to Faith, and her story is equal parts shocking and heartbreaking.

Sumpter is a skilled actress, and her transformation from a perky, spin-obsessed instructor into a demonic, fatphobic woman who believes she is superior to others is unsettling to watch, but serves as a physical portrayal of the effect that diet culture can have on an individual’s mind. Her delivery is very natural, and most of her jokes have the audience laughing. The contrast between high energy, humorous moments, and bleak yet honest criticisms of the fitness industry are mostly effective, however, a couple of jokes are mistimed, and detract from what could be some really poignant moments.

The language that Sumpter uses around food and exercise can be quite jarring. At first, she firmly views being thin and eating healthily as “good”, whereas being fat and eating unhealthily is “bad”. She talks about other spin instructors, who describe meals as a battle to make the “correct” choice, and say they’d rather die than be fat. While her opinions change over the course of the play, the detail she goes into may be distressing for those who have eating disorders.

In amongst the critiques of fitness culture, Sumpter makes a note of the positives that spin classes and exercise in general can bring: you become part of a community, and exercise can be a mood booster, especially for those who are going through difficult times. At the end, Sumpter fondly recalls racing down hills on her first childhood bike. The story serves as a reminder that we can trust our bodies and enjoy exercise rather than viewing it as a punishment, and it would be good to see this theme explored a little more.

On the whole, Spin is an enjoyable yet enlightening play, guaranteed to open our eyes to the dark side of the fitness industry and force us to confront our own prejudices.

Spin will be performed at Gilded Patter Hoose (Dram) from 5-27 August (not 9, 21) from 2:20pm as part of Edinburgh Fringe.

Words by Ellen Leslie

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