Damaged people navigating the push-pull struggle between isolation and connection, between emotional lockdown and empathy have been central to the work of Samuel D. Hunter, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and one of contemporary American drama’s foremost humanists. The playwright makes his Broadway debut with Little Bear Ridge Road, a singularly beautiful piece that shifts almost imperceptibly from acerbic comedy to searing pathos before an ending whose bleakness is broken by a slender but luminous beam of hope.
Commissioned by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater Company, where it premiered under Joe Mantello’s exacting direction, the production brings the reliably brilliant Laurie Metcalf back to Broadway in a role that dovetails neatly with her strengths. Playing Sarah, a flinty nurse involuntarily nearing retirement and living in Northern Idaho as far from other people as she can get, Metcalf exercises her usual peerless comic timing, tossing off line readings in a blunt deadpan that never misses. Only gradually does she allow reluctant glimpses of the fragility forced on her by the betrayal of her body.
The welcome surprise here is that Micah Stock matches Metcalf beat for beat as Sarah’s semi-estranged nephew, Ethan, in a performance steeped in raw feeling, self-flagellation and his own distinctive way with a tart-tongued barb. Stock’s previous Broadway appearances have been in the farcical backstage comedy It’s Only a Play and the rapid-fire journalism satire The Front Page. Here, he’s working in an entirely different vein, mining humor from what might seem at first to be a sad-sack character in a dead-end life as his arc builds steadily toward a stunning emotional catharsis.
At the risk of treading into spoiler territory for people able to see the play, that lacerating moment climaxes – after a heated back and forth of bruising truths with his aunt – in ethan’s desperate cry of anger and anguish: “I don’t know how to be a person in this terrible fucking nightmarish world!”
Many of us have had variations on that thought in these anxiety-inducing times and this viciously divided country, worsened by lingering pandemic hangover. Hunter is a master of tapping us into that kind of existential terror, even if our lives are nothing like that of a stalled writer hiding out in remote Idaho. Which probably makes this play sound dour and downbeat, neither of which it is indeed.
“Love Lies Bleeding” Offers a Raw, Unexpected Romance
Rose Glass’s “Love Lies Bleeding” isn’t your typical love story. It’s a brutal, beautiful, and surprisingly tender film that subverts expectations at every turn. The movie centers on a complex relationship between James (Alex Lawther), a physics student with a bright future, and Ethan (Bradley Drea), a troubled young man grappling with a difficult past. It’s a pairing that shouldn’t work, yet the chemistry between Lawther and Drea is undeniable.
James is pursuing his Masters in astrophysics, intending to continue with a phd. He’s kind, open, and resists pressure from his father to join the family’s dry cleaning business in Coeur d’Alene. Ethan, in stark contrast, is guarded, sullen, and often prickly. The film skillfully portrays the natural development of their connection, making their blossoming relationship feel authentic and earned.
Ethan is genuinely surprised by James’ stable family life-and even more so when he learns james’ father is providing him with substantial funds from a lake house sale. Ethan’s own childhood was marked by abandonment; his mother left when he was young, and he was raised by an abusive, drug-addicted father. During a heated argument, Ethan accuses James’ privilege of blinding him to the realities of harder lives.
The film avoids easy answers. It doesn’t offer James as a simple fix for Ethan’s problems, or a saintly figure to inspire him to change. A lesser story might have taken that route, pushing for a quick resolution. Rather, the film presents a nuanced portrayal of how two people can affect each other, even when their paths are vastly different. A especially striking scene shows James unexpectedly entering the living room after spending the night, followed by a half-dressed and somewhat oblivious Ethan, catching the attention of Ethan’s aunt.
But Hunter is…