Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...“Little Bear Ridge Road” is a 95-minute work of modest ambition, arguably, in that it focuses on the familial relationship between aunt and nephew and on the latter’s attempts to forge a functional romantic relationship with James (John Drea), a confident young man Ethan meets online and who offers him the kind of love that flows more easily from someone who grew up with less of a struggle. “Privilege is a deficiency that will always be a part of you,” Ethan says to James (played with great subtlety by Drea). Going after privilege is virtually essential in American theater if you want to get your play produced, but it has the benefit of being true and it is also recognizable here to anyone who entered a relationship with more baggage and fewer resources than a partner."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...This is a deeply beautiful piece of writing, bleakly funny, poetic in its plainness, aching in its intense empathy for the characters, brought to brilliant life, and eventually explosive drama, by Metcalf and Stock under the precise, elegant direction of Joe Mantello."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Late in Steppenwolf Theatre’s “Little Bear Ridge Road” — a new play of unvarnished loveliness and understated humor by Samuel D. Hunter (“The Whale”) — a distraught man’s gut-wrenching admission triggers a panic attack. His aunt reaches for his clenched fist, pries it open and takes his hand in hers. A small measure of comfort, it’s all these wounded souls can manage in what is a poignant examination of loneliness, inertia and failed families"
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...For Metcalf, director Joe Mantello’s exceptional Steppenwolf world premiere production is a career highlight in a career of highlights. Little Bear Ridge Road will, no doubt, have a long life after its debut Steppenwolf run, and yet, the impression Metcalf leaves on Sarah is so indelible that it’s hard to envision what this play will look like with another actor in the role."
Talkin Broadway
- Highly Recommended
"...To close its forty-eighth season, Steppenwolf Theatre Company is presenting the world premiere of Samuel D. Hunter's Little Bear Ridge Road. Under the direction of Joe Mantello, Laurie Metcalf (Sarah) and Micah Stock (Ethan) sink their teeth into a family dramedy that is exceptionally nuanced and compelling."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...This play, commissioned by Steppenwolf specifically for the powerhouse duo of legendary stage talent and Steppenwolf co-founder Laurie Metcalf and preeminent director Joe Mantello, is one of the best written I have seen in Chicago since before March 2020. Hunter (A Case for the Existence of God, A Bright New Boise) stays true to his style with a deeply human play about people on the margins of society. Artist directors Audrey Francis and Glenn Davis put the central question of the play into words perfectly in their welcome note: "Is investing in other people, or relying on them, worth it when we're all just temporary specks of dust in the vast scale of the universe?""
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Regardless of your geographic origins or class background, “Little Bear Ridge Road” will speak to anyone who has ever struggled with love, with family, or with finding inner stability."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews
- Recommended
"...Little Bear Ridge Road grips you with its enduring and empathetic storyline. Yet, despite Metcalf's brilliant performance, Stock and Drea had too many lackluster scenes that needed to be more robust to fully bring their characters to life. The most important aspect for me is whether it still connects with the audience, and the answer is a resounding yes. This narrative has a timeless quality that continues to deeply affect its audience in an emotionally powerful manner, ensuring that it will continue to be successful. It has that classic narrative that can eternally touch your soul. Still, it could benefit from more vigorous dialogue from other actors."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Any of you that has been a family member that is left with the task of settling a deceased family member’s life, knows how difficult this chore can be. Yes, what seems to be something that should be nice and easy, never is. Now, try to imagine that this is the case and you and your estranged nephew are the last of the clan, and are assigned to do the cleanup. This is the case in the current Steppenwolf Theatre’s production of “Little Bear Ridge Road” now having its World Premiere on their “downstairs” stage."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...This sensational world premiere one-act, by critically acclaimed playwright, Samuel D. Hunter, is 90-minutes of unexpected humor, profoundly dramatic character development and strong emotional exploration—all with a bittersweet resolution. The manner in which Joe Mantello defines and develops Hunter’s new work is a textbook lesson in superb theatrical direction. This choice cast, led by the unparalleled work of Steppenwolf Ensemble Member, Laurie Melcalf, is simply spectacular and a theatrical experience that should not be missed."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...Metcalf’s performance as Sarah is striking. Tony winning director Mantello, who partnered with the Steppenwolf actress to commission Hunter’s script, has Metcalf roaming the stage, exiting left and right but still shouting dialog back to Ethan. Stock is every bit as good, but his character is wounded, emotionally stunted, and ultimately less likable. His mother, we learn, ran away when he was young, probably because his father was an active addict throughout his upbringing."
The Fourth Walsh
- Highly Recommended
"...LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD captivates for its writing, directing and acting. Hunter pens a relatable tale of flawed people ‘stuck’ in their own circumstances. His smart dialogue reveals snippets of each’s story to be pieced together over time. The nuggets of revelation are sarcastically uttered, frustratedly screamed or reluctantly confessed. Hunter perfectly captures the messiness of family."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Joe Mantello brings Samuel D. Hunter’s (The Whale, A Case for the Existence of God) new family comedy-drama Little Bear Ridge Road to Steppenwolf. Tony and Emmy-winning actor Laurie Metcalf leads the small cast with a compelling performance. The show’s true punch comes from Hunter’s script, which honestly and refreshingly explores issues of the day."
Chicago On Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...A one-act play, 95 minutes long, Little Bear Ridge Road is playwright Samuel D. Hunter at his finest. Hunter (The Whale) is known for powerful and personal writing, and this play provides plenty of that. What surprised me, though, is the amount of humor in it, most of it courtesy of the brilliant deadpan delivery of Laurie Metcalf, playing an independent, curmudgeonly Idaho woman whose gay nephew arrives in town to settle his dead, meth-addicted, and abusive father's affairs. The play focuses on the long-strained relationship between these two people as well as the connections we do or do not make as we live our lives."
PicksInSix
- Highly Recommended
"...Hunter’s writing is clever, succinct and punctuated by Metcalf’s marvelous presence on stage. Even as we revel in the robust early comic interaction of the play, it is the dramatic turn of the piece that elevates this drama, exemplifies Hunter’s exceptional storytelling ability and exposes the emotional core of the piece."
MaraTapp.org
- Highly Recommended
"...If you’re thinking that you just can’t handle another play about another dysfunctional family, summon up the first line of Leo Tolstoy’s classic Anna Karenina, rightfully ranked one of the most famous openings in literature: “All happy families are alike; each dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way.” Little Bear Ridge Road may not be a Russian classic but it’s most definitely worth your time – both to see Laurie Metcalf, and to consider the questions of human connections and how to make them in the face of overwhelming dysfunction and loneliness."
Chicago Culture Authority
- Highly Recommended
"...The rich vein of humor that runs through this play, along with hopeful grace notes in the ending, provide a much-needed counterpoint to the tragic elements of these stunted lives. In almost every scene, Metcalf brings the heat, whether via a gimlet-eyed line reading that delivers huge laughs or the brutally honest moment when Sarah reveals full awareness of her emotional limitations and takes severe measures to keep her nephew from going down with her ship."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Here, Steppenwolf’s cast, the much lauded Metcalf deadpan yet infinitely decent; Stock, whiny and self-absorbed yet capable of sacrifice; Drea, unafraid to express his manifest decency; and Gerachis, a carer in 2 parts getting the job done, delivers the best in performance art. The artists, fully drawn by award winning director Mantello, thoroughly inhabiting their characters, allow each other the space to be alive. It’s a lesson in good manners, right thinking, ingrained kindness, absolute tolerance- a pleasure to watch."
BroadwayWorld
- Highly Recommended
"...In LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD, Samuel D. Hunter has accomplished a rare and magical feat: He’s given us a play that’s mundane and profound at the same time. With Joe Mantello directing, Steppenwolf’s ensemble of Laurie Metcalf, Micah Stock, John Drea, and Meighan Gerachis make the play yet more fascinating and emotionally raw."
NewCity Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Steppenwolf Theatre Company retains their title as the gold standard for drama with their new production of “Little Bear Ridge Road,” featuring returning ensemble member Laurie Metcalf with John Drea, Meighan Gerachis and Micah Stock, directed by Tony Award-winning Joe Mantello, and written by Samuel D. Hunter, popularly known for his play “The Whale,” which was turned into an Academy Award-winning film starring Brendan Fraser."
Busking At The Seams
- Highly Recommended
"...Samuel D. Hunter’s latest world premiere, Little Bear Ridge Road, at Steppenwolf Theatre is something to behold with Laurie Metcalf’s perfect comedic timing and exuberant curmudgeon-with-a-heart persona playing opposite Micah Stock’s deadpan but never lazy snark. Little Bear Ridge Road marks Metcalf’s return to Steppenwolf as an original member of Steppenwolf Theatre and leaves audiences begging, don’t go anywhere."
