[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of All New People’s Exit, Pursued by a Bear, written by Lauren Gunderson, directed by Danielle Swanson and playing Thursdays only, September 20 through October 11, 2026, at The RD Studio Theatre in North Hollywood.
The classic Shakespearean line, Exit, Pursued by a Bear, that even the most unscholarly amongst us are familiar with is embodied in this brilliant play by the wonderful Lauren Gunderson.
Our heroine is Nan. Stuck in a very unhappy marriage to the first man who asked her, Nan has had enough. Enough of being ignored, enough of her small life and enough of the violence, both physical and emotional. And she has a plan…
She enacts this plan with the help of her new friend Sweetheart, part-time stripper, part-time actress, full-time superstar. Nan and Sweetheart have duct-taped Nan’s husband Kyle to his grubby recliner after Nan clocked him on the head with a pan. They have an entire evening planned of staged reenactments of pivotal moments in Nan and Kyle’s relationship. The theory is that this will impress upon the mean and confused Kyle the repeated errors of his ways in a much more effective way than words alone…especially since he is a bully and never listens to Nan or anyone else. The scene is set, the redneck awakes, and he is not impressed.
Nan begins the evening’s schedule of events with Sweetheart and then she calls in backup in the form of her longtime best friend Simon. Between the three of them, they studiously and hilariously present Kyle with their versions of his terrible behavior, mistreatment and abuse of the lovely Nan. They each play the roles of Nan and Kyle. Moments of physical abuse, moments of dismissive and obnoxious behavior, promises broken over and over again and as they do, it becomes clearer and clearer to the audience and eventually to Kyle that the road has ended and all that is left are the bears.
The performances are absolutely incredible. All nuanced and flamboyant, aggressive and heartfelt, strange, funny and utterly believable. Since the house is outside of town, and clearly deep in the woods somewhere in Georgia, the crescendo to this redneck opera is to scatter about Kyle the now unfrozen butchered pieces of deer he has illegally amassed in his freezer, slather him liberally with honey and leave all the doors wide open to the elements and the many famously curious local bears. Yippee, I say!
This play is not just about revenge. Putting the man who created all this misery at the center of the play about Nan finding her power and a clear way out seems a little counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Exit, Pursued by a Bear does nothing of the sort, though. The process that Nan uses to free herself from any doubts or residual feelings of empathy toward Kyle works brilliantly, and those feelings are entirely washed away through the step-by-step program she has created. In the end, the play feels more like an exorcism. Each piece of the drama is ceremoniously placed. Everything rehearsed and planned, nothing left to chance. But Kyle is not the one being exorcised, Nan is. She is enacting a magical series of spell-like conjurings entirely unknowingly. Her assistants are circling and supporting as she leads them all through this dance. And the world rights itself as she does it.
It’s brilliant. I only wish I had the opportunity to do this with any number of my exes. So much better than lying awake at night still, imagining what I might have said or done decades earlier. Nan has made her own epiphany, her own revelation, and I, for one, am not only envious but inspired.
Exit, Pursued by a Bear is not a call to arms, it is a call to personal triumph and rebirth. It is a reminder that we can all, if we set our minds to it, experience the revelation of a monumental feat of gravity-defying strength.
Do the bears get their Kyle or does he talk his way out of the bonds of duck tape? Is Nan the heroine we all wish her to be or will she find a reason to stay? Will her new friend and her old friend magically mesh or tear each other apart?
Really, it could have gone any one of these ways, but the majesty of this play is that the drama is not in the potential to destroy; it is in the beauty of redefinition, rediscovery and love.
I dare you not to see this play…it’s in NoHo. It’s hilarious and breathtakingly beautiful. It’s truth and forgiveness and some of the most wonderful performances I have seen in a long, long time. I love,
love, loved it!!!!! So I know you will too.
Tickets:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwmBAU5hSTdmc5kCG23b6fjb4MsYSrsBfNMNwzdtZ-OpQEjA/viewform
Where:
RD Studio Theatre
5508 Cahuenga Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601
When:
Sunday, September 20 — 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 26 — 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 4 — 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 10 — 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 11 — 7:30 p.m.
The Cast
Nan Carter: Corinne Shor
Kyle Carter: PJ King
Simon Beaufort: Russell Kohlmann
The Team
Written by Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Danielle Swanson
Produced by All New People