US EditionReview: In ‘Little Bear Ridge Road’ on Broadway, Laurie Metcalf Shows Us a Woman so Alone on that Couch
Samuel D. Hunter’s Broadway debut explores isolation and empathy through Laurie Metcalf’s role as Sarah, a nurse near retirement, with themes reflecting pandemic-era anxieties.
- On Thursday, Little Bear Ridge Road opened at the Booth Theatre after a 2023 world premiere at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, headlined by Laurie Metcalf in Samuel D. Hunter's Broadway debut.
- Commissioned by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the play moved from its 2023 Chicago world premiere and continues Samuel D. Hunter's focus on damaged people and unexpected tenderness.
- Featuring just four characters, the production leans on performance over spectacle with Scott Pask, set designer, centering a beige reclining couch and Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock praised for their chemistry.
- Critics find the piece emotionally expansive and shifting in tone, describing the 90 minutes as moving from sharp comedy toward searing pathos as Sarah and Ethan confront their mutual need.
- Presented by Scott Rudin and Barry Diller, the production returns Laurie Metcalf to Broadway and uses a spare, voidlike stage to evoke Idaho night skies and pandemic-era isolation.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Review: In ‘Little Bear Ridge Road’ on Broadway, Laurie Metcalf shows us a woman so alone on that couch
NEW YORK — A subset of people, when faced with, say, cancer, prefer to keep their health crisis a secret. It often comes from a detestation of being treated as a victim, or a desire to protect loved ones from…
Laurie Metcalf Is Riveting in ‘Little Bear Ridge Road’
Out past the edge of town, on her dozen acres of northern Idaho, Sarah Fernsby is doing just fine on her own, and don’t you dare suggest otherwise. She has a rifle for protection, though her manner alone could scare off anyone. She drives a truck so hulking that if she hits a large animal, it barely affects the ride. Bulldozer aggressive, with a tripwire temper and a tendency to shout, she is seemingly unacquainted with the notion of emotional r…
BROADWAY REVIEW: Metcalf stuns audience again in ‘Little Bear Ridge Road’
Some people when faced, say, with cancer, prefer to keep their health crisis secret. It often comes from a desire to protect loved ones from pain or to not be treated like a victim. But it can also be about autonomy. In Samuel D. Hunter’s beautiful play “Little Bear Ridge Road,” the remarkable actress Laurie Metcalf (“Roseanne,” “The Conners”) plays such a woman. Sarah, from the playwright’s native Idaho, is a gruff, determined red-state America…
'Little Bear Ridge Road' Broadway Review: Laurie Metcalf Is Our Greatest Curmudgeon Who Delights
Samuel D. Hunter’s latest begins as a very funny two-hander comedy in which Laurie Metcalf plays another of her sharp-tongued curmudgeons and Micah Stock brings to the stage a more svelte version of Brendan Fraser’s obese recluse from “The Whale,” also by Hunter. We know Metcalf can be a hilarious bitch. What’s fun is that Stock’s tortured schlub of a nephew turns out to be just as skilled at throwing the insults back at her. That’s the very goo…
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