Bears, Bears, Bears – Contact, Manchester

Writer: Natalie Beech

Director: Connor Goodwin

Man or Bear? As a woman, which would you rather be stuck alone in the woods with. Such was the question posed in a viral TikTok video back in 2024 and the answer was resoundingly – in what was perhaps surprising to some – “bear”.

It is this very question over which blood-soaked feminist Jen (Jenna Sian O’Hara) compulsively obsesses after committing an undisclosed violent act with her partner Jake (Jordan Akkaya). Thus begins a surreal, high-octane two hours which is safely unlike anything you’ll have seen in the theatre of late. A wonderfully original play by Manchester playwright Natalie Beech, Bears, Bears, Bears won Divided Culture’s inaugural Playwriting Prize in 2025 – a new award dedicated to championing exceptional new work from writers across the North West.

As an audience member, you never feel safe or secure – much like the hypothetical ‘woman vs predator’ debate at its core – and therein lies the cleverness of Beech’s writing. Director Connor Goodwin’s decision to stage in the round is a perfect one – the furthest back you’re getting is a second row seat – and there’s nowhere to hide.

Akkaya gives a strong, emotionally layered performance as Jordan, a depiction of the flawed but relatable, awkwardly funny everyman navigating a tumultuous relationship – a canny foil to O’Hara’s chaotic, livewire Jen – cleverly lulling us into a false sense of security and, despite ourselves, encouraging us to pick sides – surely we’d be safe in a forest with this man?

Where the production stumbles is its tone and pacing. Jenna Sian O’Hara’s performance demonstrates a beyond-remarkable level of stamina and a physical endurance that seemingly knows no bounds – but Goodwin’s decision to keep O’Hara’s energy at this level near consistently throughout the entire play is to the distraction of the nuance and less surreal elements of the text.  Muting the impact as we voyeuristically peek into snippets of Jake and Jen’s relationship to see the human strain and emotion – and how it all bubbles up to a nightmarish fever-dream denouement.

Bears, Bears, Bears provokes and unsettles. An innovative new piece of writing transforming something as commonplace as a viral social media thought experiment into a phantasmagoric exploration of power dynamics in romantic relationships. There’s no doubt that, if you choose to poke the bear on this occasion, you’re in for a thought-provoking surprise.

Runs until 16th May 2026