While the latest Playcrafters’ stage production is not set in the Ozarks or the Rockies (or any other bear country for that matter), the allusion of a bear chase is altogether real in playwright John O’Hara’s “Pursued by a Bear.” The title has been used as a stage command in Shakespeare’s time, but the general consensus today lends it to a metaphor for death – something that’s in pursuit of us all.
“It’s a dramady,” said Director David Deratzian, of the play that takes its inspiration from a true-to-life story about a dying man’s request.
O’Hara took an article he’d read in PEOPLE magazine about a man with incurable pancreatic cancer and developed it for the stage. With only months to live, the man had reached out to 12 of his friends in an effort to get them to commit to helping raise his twin sons after he passed away.
Lest you think the plot of a man facing the tragedy of his own demise maudlin, you’d be quite wrong. There’s plenty of romance in this teary tale. Scenes are set in both the Philadelphia suburbs and the Jersey shore in the six months between Jack (Lenny Grossman) learning that he has terminal cancer and his final decision to have his daughter be raised by someone else. The cast includes Nathan, a college friend (Greg Kasander); his brother Bobby (Ben Fried); Eric, a childhood friend (Jerome Neville); Nancy, his daughter’s aunt (Laura Shapella); and Chris, a student (Justin Bwint). Chip Breithaupt is producing the show.
A prolific playwright with more than 40 plays having been written during his residency at Theatre Arts Center, including “O Happy Dagger,” “S N A P” and “Fantasy Rabbit Tour,” O’Hara’s work has been featured in local theaters in and around Philadelphia and New York. This latest venture is the longtime product of a rigorous developmental process at various venues. Audiences big and small have been invaluable through their vetting and evaluations, and O’Hara is most grateful for their feedback. Now, five years after its initial conception, “Pursued by a Bear” is ready for its premiere showing.
“John gave us the first option to perform it,” said Deratzian, who is striving to bring the absolute best out of the playwright’s intent and vision. “Oftentimes, [the cast] looks at prior productions to figure it all out, including what the characters were really like. It’s a challenge for the actors to go without a net.”
A special feature added to the performance is the raffling of two “Pursued by a Bear” labeled wine bottles from a California winery. The winery is owned by film and TV actor Kyle MacLaclan (Golden Globe for Best Actor in Twin Peaks) and both bottles bear his autograph.
As usual, there will be an opening night reception, and two talk-backs are scheduled for the first and last Saturday night’s performances.
“Pursued by a Bear” depicts the steadfastness of lifelong bonds and the impact of our choices. It traces a physical and emotional journey for each of the characters faced with death in all of its manifestations. It ends with a reunion of the characters and how they’ve been transformed in one way or another.
If you go: Playcrafters presents “Pursued by a Bear” at The Barn, 2011 Store Road and Skippack Pike (Rt. 73), Skippack, August 11-13, 19-20, 25-27 at 8 p.m.; August 21 @ 3 p.m. Call 610-584-4005 or visit www.playcrafters.org for ticket information.