Back in 2024, a TikTok user asked women if they’d rather be stuck in a forest with a man or with a bear. An astounding number of them replied that they’d choose the bear over a man any day. Paige and her daughter Angel have just moved into a flat rented by Connie. They’re fleeing from Sam, Paige’s abusive ex and Angel’s long-term stepfather. Lesley Ewen, Amaia Naima Aguinaga, and Katie Hurley address the many shapes of violence.
Narrators and protagonists at once, they present vignettes of daily life. Paige is dealing with the manifestations of the emotional abuse she received; Angel is grappling with the idea of a schoolmate being abused by a boy; and Connie is being the subject of her church’s homophobic retaliation.
Poetic, sombre narration alternates the more raw and direct nature of the dialogue. The trio rarely face each another, creating distance and disengagement by looking forward instead. This rather Brechtian approach in the direction establishes a state of separation and alienation between the characters, who are united in their circumstances but ultimately suffer them alone.
The writing is well-calibrated in its tonal fluctuations, infused with irresistible tension and a natural, healthy rhythm built into the structure. Ewen, Aguinaga, and Hurley portray real, authentic, and well-rounded women. Their traumas come to the surface in straight harangues (Angel’s school project is a fearless indictment of misogyny) and everything that’s left unsaid. It becomes a vigorous yet subtle reflection.
The team also fight the toxic rhetoric that surrounds what an abuser looks like. “Sam is a good man” echoes like a litany throughout. He never beat Paige, he never called her any names. He loves Angel as if she were his own. But domestic violence isn’t always bloody. It’s not all men, but it’s always a man.
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