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Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

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If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging

Long term relationships: Chutney @BunkerTheatreUK

The central message from Chutney, is that anyone you date at University is not worth staying in a long term relationship with. You get bored with your smug post-university life and soon you’ll be wanting to murder the neighbour’s cat. Or their parrot. Or a few hedgehogs. It’s currently playing at The Bunker.

We’re introduced to Claire (Isabel Della-Porta) and Gregg (Will Adolphy) after something terrible has happened. They’ve just been dog-sitting for some friends and then a fox came and ripped the dogs head off. Or was it a homeless man. Or did they do it?

There’s a middle class kitchen complete with John Lewis kitchen appliances. It sets the scene where boredom meets murderous thoughts and actions. It’s American Psycho meets Croydon Cat Killer. Without the moral panic.

There’s plenty of gross, stomach churning dialogue. But playwright Reece Connolly has some sharp observations about the lives of millennials. Not old enough to have positions of power. Not young enough to have carefree University existences. They are charting the world of binge-watching Netflix and dreaming of exotic escapes that they can’t afford. It’s enough to bring out more primal, animal instincts.

Adolphy and Della-Porta are remarkable as they navigate characters that teeter between sympathetic and psychopathic. It’s a fine line they tread but both are engaging throughout. Acting out and narrating their inner-evil thoughts.

The production with its all-white kitchen and stainless steel appliances makes it feel as if you’re entering an abattoir. Maybe we are. And it will make you think twice before asking a millennial to dog-sit while you’re away...

Directed by Georgie Staight, Chutney is at The Bunker until 1 December.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Photos by Rah Petherbridge Photography

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