Bear Hug

by Robin French

Bear Hug had 1 performance almost 3 years ago (on the 9th of July 2021) at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts

An entry in the 2021 Maidenhead Drama Festival. A conventional middle-class couple are in their conventional middle-class kitchen. The mother, Linda, is serving dinner to her Volvo-obsessed husband David and their son Michael. This could be an episode of a gentle family 1970s sitcom starring Wendy Craig and Martin Jarvis but something is wrong with the picture. Michael is a bear and he is angry, frustrated and alienated. Linda and David are trying their best but their cosy world view is about to spiral into a nightmarish black comedy as they try to cope with a son who is out of control.

Bear Hug was first performed at the Royal Court in 2004. It is a comedy which explores the way family relationships are tested to breaking point by a son who has become lost to himself and to his parents. The play offers the actors the opportunity to explore through black comedy the pain and anguish of a family being torn apart both figuratively and literally whilst against all odds they try to keep their suburban façade intact.

All the action takes place in the kitchen, which needs to have a realistic oven, a window and a door. There are some interesting special effects, including the bear head and paws, bloody bandages and internal organs and a dummy dressed as the son/bear and driving gloves for father and son/bear. Simple lighting getting colder as the play progresses. Some music and a doorbell and roaring bear sound effects.

This play also features as part of The Scream Inside, a double bill of one act plays performed from 21st to 24th June 2021 at Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre, alongside Madonna della Media by Caroline Ross Tajasque