Welcome to Katy's world. Stuck in an office so bright it burns the eyes. So happy the smile cracks your cheeks. So sickly sweet the nausea turns in your stomach.  

But Katy is fine. 

She’s really really fine. 

Fine like a scab you keep picking. 

Fine like a bear you keep poking. 

Fine like a volcano seconds away from exploding. 

Really, Katy is fine. 

Just so long as she doesn’t think about him. 

So often when we think about survival stories we think about the getting out. The great escape, the breaking free before we can get on with the rest of our lives. 

We don’t always consider what those lives now look like. What living with an experience does to a person. What cobbling back together the broken pieces of your world actually takes.  

If we even get to that point. If we’re not frozen in time, trapped in an internal loop, reliving and replaying every word, every hurt, every chip that was taken out of you.  

How does one put themselves back together when the puzzle pieces have been snapped along the way? 

And if we can’t go back to being ourselves, to being who we were before, then who do we become?  

The creation of Sun Bear began with the question, what next?  

What happens next?  

When the world refuses to stop turning, when the alarm clock goes off every morning, when you drag yourself into an office that challenges all the rules and expectations that have been embedded into you.  

Every office has its thunder cloud, its person who requires a tightrope walk to even talk to them. Katy became mine; she became every intrusive thought that has ever crossed your mind, every held back word, every bitten tongue, Katy became all of them. Cruel and brash and unapologetic in whoever she took down with her. Katy became a harbour for all our office grumblings. But she also became a wall, a shield, a repellent to stop anyone from getting too close. To stop them seeing the pain within. To stop them finding out the truth. Because lines of people wanting to tear her down, hating her, that Katy can deal with, but their pity, their help, them finding out what happened, them seeing her for who she really is, well that’s something even Katy couldn’t handle. 

Sun Bear is an exploration of a mindset that is so hard to break free from. When all that is left is the anger at what happened, and the blame and shame inside, Sun Bear is a discovery of where that anger goes. Into the panic, the flashbacks, the uncontrollable fight or flight that lies within or is there a way, after the crash landing, after rock bottom hits deeper than you thought possible, is there a way of truly breaking free of those chains he wrapped you in? 

Sarah Richardson's award-winning dark comedy Sun Bear plays alongside The Light House in this year's Make Mine a Double festival, showcasing the hottest new voices in theatre. Playing for a limited run in Park90 from 2 - 13 Apr. Save £5 per ticket when you book for both shows together!

Teaser Trailer