A tense and chaotic play exploring fear, control and modern relationships through the “man or bear” debate
Bears Bears Bears marks the latest production from Divided Culture Co, a company continuing to champion new writing and emerging creatives. Winner of the 2025 DCC Playwriting Prize, Natalie Beech’s debut play arrives at the Contact Theatre with loads of confidence, blending horror, dark comedy and performance art into something that feels chaotic in a very deliberate way. Directed by Connor Goodwin, the production takes the familiar “man or bear” internet debate and pushes it into much darker territory, exploring fear, control and the uncomfortable power dynamics that can exist within relationships.
Performed in the intimate setting of Space 2, the audience are thrown straight into the middle of the action. There is no easing in. Jen and her partner Jake appear in the aftermath of a violent act, and from there the story jumps between different moments in their lives without clearly spelling everything out. It does mean the audience has to work a bit harder to piece things together, but that confusion actually adds to the tension. The whole thing feels unstable from the start, like it could completely unravel at any second.
Natalie Beech’s script avoids turning the play into a lecture on gender politics, which is what makes it work so well. Instead, it focuses on the contradictions within the characters and the way fear can slowly distort relationships. There is a lot packed into the writing, but it never feels like it is trying too hard to sound clever. Some moments are genuinely funny, others are properly uncomfortable. Quite a few scenes had the audience laughing before immediately making them go silent again.
Jenna Sian O’Hara is brilliant as Jen. Her performance has this frantic energy running through it that keeps the audience constantly on edge. Even in quieter moments there is still this sense that she might suddenly explode. The manic nature of the performance honestly made the whole room feel tense at points. Her monologues are especially strong because they feel messy and emotional rather than overly polished.
Jordan Akkaya’s Jake works really well opposite her. It would have been easy for the character to become one note, but Akkaya keeps him grounded enough that the audience are never fully sure what to think of him. That uncertainty becomes one of the most interesting parts of the production. Shifaa Arfan also brings a completely different energy as Jodie. Her scenes give the audience a bit of breathing space amongst all the chaos, and she feels instantly warm and likeable on stage.
Connor Goodwin’s direction is one of the strongest parts of the show. The audience surround the performance space on all sides, which makes everything feel really exposed and claustrophobic. One detail that worked particularly well was the repeated use of actors entering and exiting through the different doors around the room. It was such a simple idea but really effective for signalling movement through time and shifts within the story without needing loads of explanation. It kept the pace moving naturally and stopped the transitions from feeling clunky.
The stripped back set design of logs, wood chippings and a campfire also suits the production perfectly. Nothing feels overdone. The lighting and sound design build tension without distracting from the performances, and there are moments where the atmosphere becomes almost unbearable in the best way possible.
What makes the show stand out is that it refuses to give easy answers. It is messy, uncomfortable and deliberately difficult at times, but that feels completely intentional. The production captures the anxiety surrounding conversations about gender and safety in a way that feels recognisable without trying to neatly wrap everything up by the end.
There are points where the fragmented structure loses momentum slightly in the middle section, but the performances are strong enough to pull everything back together again. By the ending, enough pieces click into place to make the earlier confusion feel worth sticking with.
Bears Bears Bears is tense, unsettling and weirdly funny all at once. It feels like a production that fully commits to its own chaos, and because of that, it leaves a real impact.
Bears Bears Bears runs until 16 May at the Contact Theatre, Manchester.