Type 2: A Bipolar Journey

If you’re expecting an epic about expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic, forget it!  This is a no-holds-barred performance about a serious and too often misunderstood disorder.  Written by Jason Gale and Tyler Workman, Type 2 follows the life and love of a couple struggling with the effects of bipolar disorder.

Jasmine Platt, convincingly played by Michelle Mainwaring, is a successful stand-up comedian, hoping for a steady gig in an established show or film work.  She’s married to a man she loves deeply but relies on entirely.  Her husband Michael (performed with warmth and simmering restraint by co-writer Jason Gale) loves her with an equal passion and struggles to deal with Jasmine’s life-long battle with bipolar disorder.  He’s become such an expert that he teaches a class called ‘Dealing with Bipolar’ on his time off.

In spite of all the love and understanding of the illness,  Michael still can’t help but engage in what he knows is enabling behaviour yet he does it out of love and an attempt to keep Jasmine on an even keel as long as he can.  The inevitable fall into depression is a terrible thing to watch, as is Jasmine’s cruel treatment of the man she loves and who, despite it all loves her truly.  The honesty of both performers is remarkable and compelling.

This is not for the faint of heart.  Sexual betrayal, drug use, violence and heart-wrenching emotional scenes thread through this play.  Fortunately, the comedy threads through as well, acting as a leavening agent in an otherwise heavy script.

This production has played to medical and psychiatric professionals to great acclaim.  I highly recommend this to anyone familiar with the disorder and even more so to those who are not.