All the lonely people, where do they all come from? Samuel D. Hunter grapples with this question in his heartfelt one-act drama Little Bear Ridge Road, which opened on Broadway Thursday after a successful run at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. Laurie Metcalf delivers a pitch-perfect performance as Sarah, a curmudgeonly nurse in rural Idaho who welcomes her 30ish nephew, Ethan (Micah Stock), into her home following the death of her brother (and his dad). The year is 2020, early in the pandemic, which negates the idea of holding a public funeral — though, Ethan points out, they’re the only family he has left to attend any memorial service. Plus, Leon was a meth-addicted bully who drove people away, particularly his gay son. “You know that was the drugs talking,” Sarah tells Ethan about their last conversation in which Leon called him a faggot after refusing to lend him 40 bucks. “It was also him talking,” Ethan says.
The legacy of family trauma looms heavily over the characters in this play, as well as the stubbornness that comes naturally to people used to fending for themselves. As circumstances bring Sarah and Ethan back under the same roof, they begin to test each other’s boundaries and feelings about the future. Ethan is both drawn to the last family he has left and yet resentful that this beloved aunt didn’t do more to protect him from the abuse he endured as a child. Sarah, meanwhile, is more accustomed to living on her own — and resists disclosing her cancer treatment long after it’s obvious to Ethan. There’s a push-me-pull-me codependency here borne of both family ties and genuine affection.
As Ethan’s stay drags into 2022, the differences between them grow more pronounced. That’s particularly true after Ethan hooks up with a young grad student named James (John Drea), who meets Ethan’s melancholic exasperation with unbridled optimism. Unlike Sarah, Ethan needs to be in a relationship — and the fragility of this one given their different material and professional circumstances makes it all the more fraught. Ethan also needs to be nudged to make something of himself, career-wise, after getting an MFA in fiction that he then parlayed into a long-running job in a bookstore back in Seattle.
Stock is magnificent as Ethan, carrying the weight of the world and a lifetime of hurt on his broad shoulders. You can see his entire body loosen during the early stages of his romance, and then the anxiety creep back in as he realizes that James may leave Idaho to pursue a doctorate. Metcalf demonstrates why she is one of the finest actors of her generation — delivering a performance that is natural, compelling, and in key moments emotionally raw.
She is also very, very funny — a master of the exasperated utterance that comes easily to those accustomed to living on their own for so long. Whether she’s vacuuming around the spare set (designed by Scott Pask and lit by Heather Gilbert to underscore the emptiness in the characters’ lives) or leaning back in her recliner sofa, she imbues her character with a just-get-on-with-it energy that rivets your attention.
Under Joe Mantello’s expert direction, Little Bear Ridge Road is an elegy to an American family on its last legs — we’re told repeatedly that Sarah and Ethan are the final members of their clan. But it’s also a testament to our capacity for change, for forgiveness, and for getting unstuck from patterns that hold us back. ★★★★☆
LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD
Booth Theatre, Broadway
Running time: 95 minutes (with no intermission)
Tickets on sale through February 15 for $74 to $311
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