Dependence and independence, pride and stubbornness battle it out on “Little Bear Ridge Road”

Before I say anything else, let me state here and now:  Laurie Metcalf is arguably the best actress appearing in New York right now. She is starring in Samuel D. Hunter’s new play, Little Bear Ridge Road right now, and I urge you to get tickets and see her before the show’s limited run comes to an end.

Metcalf plays Sarah, a reclusive woman living alone on the outskirts of Troy, Idaho, in the Idaho panhandle. Her estranged nephew, Ethan (Micah Stock) comes to visit at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The two of them have to settle the estate of his father / her brother. Sarah grudgingly agrees to let him stay with her until that task is completed. In the course of doing that, Ethan meets James (John Drea), a local man, and the two of them tentatively start forming a relationship. While Sarah and Ethan begin to forge a closer family tie, the ever-cautious Ethan manages to sabotage his relationship with James. Things come to a head between the aunt and nephew when he learns of her medical condition and tries to manage her care, something the fiercely independent Sarah does not want.

The cast, under the direction of two-time Tony-award winner Joe Mantello (Assassins, Take Me Out), give strong performances in the play. Metcalf, whose comedic chops were on display in the TV shows Roseanne and The Connors, here displays equally strong dramatic talent mixed with surprising physical humor. She is matched by Stock’s Ethan, who paints a picture of a young man drifting in life, allowing his uncertainties and his past hurts to interfere with even the smallest chance to find love or happiness. Stock is no shrinking violet to Metcalf’s acid-tongued no-nonsense aunt, and the sparks they generate invigorate the play. John Drea, as Stock’s love interest, gives us a tough yet gentle man who is willing to take a chance with the man he can see deep inside Ethan.

The set is sparse, consisting of a large circular space containing mostly one large white couch. It’s the type of room set up for spending hours in front of a screen, vegging out with the rest of the quarantined world, and is the work of scenic designer Scott Pask. Heather Gilbert’s lighting design and Mikhail Fiskel’s sound design add to the illusion of being in an isolated home in the wilds of Idaho.

Little Bear Ridge Road is a play that must be experienced, for no words of mine could come close to conveying the emotional depth of this play, under this director, with these actors. Laurie Metcalf is a national treasure; Micah Stock is an actor to watch as his career continues. Joe Mantello’s direction of all four characters (including a brief performance by Meighan Gerachis as a visiting nurse) is outstanding. Samuel D. Hunter makes a spectacular Broadway debut with this play. I cannot urge you more strongly to see Little Bear Ridge Road before its limited engagement ends.

Little Bear Ridge Road is playing at the Booth Theatre, 222 West 45th Street,in New York through Dec. 21, 2025. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to littlebearridgeroad.com