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To be confirmed.
Performance dates
24 October - 23 November 2019
Run time: To be confirmed.
Includes interval
21 reviews
★★★★★
"[A] potent study of the places we leave behind"
The Observer
★★★★★
"An excellent tragicomic play elevated further by Rhys Ifans and the ensemble"
The Stage
“One minute we had customers, the next minute there was no-one.”
In a lost village, blurred by redrawn borders, hidden under a crumb on the map, Bear Ridge Stores still stands.
After a hundred years, the family butchers and grocers – a place for odds and ends, contraband goods, and the last petrol pump for 30 miles – is now silent.
But owners John Daniel and Noni are not leaving.
They are defiantly drinking the remaining whiskey and remembering good times, when everyone was on the same side and the old language shone.
Outside in the dark, a figure is making their way towards them.
A semi-autobiographical story about the places we leave behind, the indelible marks they make on us, and the unreliable memories we hold onto.
Ed Thomas is an award-winning writer for screen and theatre. He co-created the television drama Hinterland and his plays include House of America and Gas Station Angel, which premiered at the Royal Court. Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone and Ed Thomas will co-direct On Bear Ridge.
The Big Idea: Post-show Talk | Tue 5 Nov
Writer Ed Thomas and Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone in conversation with Royal Court Young Agitators. This event is free with a ticket to that evening’s performance and will be captioned with live speech-to-text
At a time when the dastardly Donald Trump wishes to pull the US from the Paris Climate Accord while the burning of Notre Dame gets more media coverage than the burning of the Amazon Rainforest, it can understandably be difficult to remain optimistic about the future of the climate crisis. But as Greta Thunberg continues to bring attention to the anthropogenic apocalypse, so does the West End and the London theatre scene. After Nimax Theatre Group set the "greenprint" for climate action last year thanks to their Last Straw campaign in which they said no to the use of plastic straws, more and more theatres are stepping up to the plate to take action against climate change and total ecological collapse.
25 Oct, 2019 | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
The Royal Court Theatre and Wales National Theatre co-production of On Bear Ridge, which is set to open at the Royal Court on 24 October as part of the venue's politically charged 2019/2029 season, has just released its first batch of production shots for the new play. Have a gander at these visually stunning first-look photos below in our gallery and be sure to book your tickets for this highly anticipated production whilst you can to secure the best seats at London's Royal Court Theatre this autumn.
23 Sep, 2019 | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
The first promo shots for the new National Theatre Wales and Royal Court Theatre joint production of On Bear Ridge have been released ahead of the show's highly-anticipated premiere. The producers have also announced that the star-studded play starring Rhys Ifans will be accompanied by a so-called "site-specific installation" complete with a virtual reality experience. Check out the new promotional shots of Ed Thomas's On Bear Ridge and find out more about the special VR experience below.
19 Jul, 2019 | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
The Royal Court Theatre production of the Ed Thomas play, On Bear Ridge, has just announced its cast with Rhys Ifans and Rakie Ayola set to star. As part of the venue's 2019/2020 season, On Bear Ridge will open at the West End's Royal Court Theatre on 24 October following a brief run at the Sherman Theatre from 20 September to 5 October.
Tickets for On Bear Ridge in London are on sale now at affordable prices!
20 Jun, 2019 | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels