On Bear Ridge Tickets

★★★★★

"[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