Sea Burn by Jay Sykes, inspired by the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe. Dir. Sykes. Perf. Chloe Gosling, Kylie Ann Ford, Matthew Korol. Download from http://jaysykesmedia.wix.com/seaburn

Pippa (Chloe Gosling) has graduated from university but not found her way yet; she spends her working life in a supermarket uttering familiar clichés ("do you need any cash back?"). Her friend Becky (Kylie Ann Ford) has made it, and instructs Chloe to do the same. Unfortunately Chloe cannot summon up either the physical or the emotional strength to do so; she is drawn daily to Sea Burn in Newcastle, where she enjoys the sensation of the waves plashing near to her, and the water occasionally washing close to her feet.

Sea Burn makes adept use of radio's particular techniques - overlapping sounds, echoing voices - to recreate the turmoil of Chloe's inner life. Tormented by her past, by her stormy relationship with sister April (Louise Lyster) and her closeness to her father (David Foster), she cannot really progress forward anywhere. Perhaps it's not necessary: rather she should try to come to terms with herself in order to determine her identity before moving forward.

The play draws on several familiar metaphors - for example, the identification of water with the never-ending process of life, moving inexorably towards death. Perhaps that's what Chloe is actually looking for; maybe she's "half in love with easeful death." Playwright Sykes (who also directed) deliberately keeps us guessing.

To be frank, the ending of the play is a bit of a cop-out in view with what has happened before, as Chloe acquires a decisiveness that hitherto we have not seen within her. As an evocation of the complexities of the human mind, however (where past inevitably impacts an individual's present and future), "Sea Burn" is a fine piece.