Black Bear Island at Bramble Theatre Company

Bramble Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere production of BLACK BEAR ISLAND by Bramble Artistic Director Karissa Murrell Myers, directed by Jonathan Berry. The show will run September 24 - October 17, 2026 at Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark St in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago.

Set in the Pacific Northwest, this gothic magical realistic thriller explores regret, the unreliableness of our own memories, and the paths we choose to become who we are. When Amitra’s estranged childhood sweetheart mysteriously dies, she returns to Black Bear Island, which legend says is haunted by a monstrous man-killing bear. As she searches for the truth, the forest begins to engulf the house and her past begins to collide with the present as her memory starts to unfog. Winner of the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Award in 2023, this play was hailed as “an ambitious, psychologically complex play that explores how trauma shapes identity.”

The cast features Carolyn Hu Bradbury, Christopher Acevedo, Suzy Krueckeberg*, Noelle Oh, Thomas B. Tran, Jesse James Hoover, and David Stobbe. (*denotes Bramble ensemble member)

Tickets are $8-$45 and can be purchased at https://www.brambletheatre.org/blackbearisland