Remember when the internet went wild a couple of years ago debating whether, as a woman alone in the woods, you’d rather encounter a man or a bear? Sarah Hehir‘s new play, Man or Bear, explores this question from the perspective of three women who find themselves flung together in sometimes uncomfortably close proximity.

Paige has just mustered her strength and left a coercively controlling relationship with Sam, but he bakes cinnamon buns and buys Beyoncé tickets for her teenage daughter: how can he be a monster? Daughter Angel’s reluctant to face up to the sinister version of her stepdad, but she’s got her own stuff going on at school and when she tries to do the right thing, she discovers life isn’t always straightforward. Kindly neighbour Connie provides a roof over their heads, waiving a house rule to accommodate their pet cat but her faith in human nature’s also tested with confidence-shaking consequences.

This is a wonderfully crisp, economical, nuanced script from Hehir featuring actual bears alongside the three richly complex female characters exploring the many manifestations of misogyny. The performances are universally superb. Connie (Katie Hurley) is all bullish bravado on the surface but simmering underneath is the relentless drip drip drip effect of the coercive control on her confidence. Angel (Amaia Naima Aguinaga) is a perfectly petulant teenager (with an awesome moonwalk), heartbreakingly playing out the same eroded confidence that her mum’s ingested from her toxic partner. Connie (Lesley Ewen) is a lovely counterbalance, ostensibly comfortable in her own skin until she’s confronted with a series of uncomfortable truths.

Don’t be thinking this is a wholly depressing play. The dialogue zips along. Beautiful lyrical narrative brackets the scenes. Director Ursula Martinez plunders the script for its dark humour and the bear interludes (largely) have a studied, stupidly endearing charm. Hehir clearly has immense belief in women and their collective power to heal. Her Angel is all too aware of the murk of the manosphere and wants to make a stand. But Hehir’s ultimate verdict is a gloomy sign of the times: whatever age you are, whatever your life choices, there’s a bear around the corner waiting to pounce.

Man or Bear has finished its run