Impact Theatre Co. takes on domestic violence with revenge comedy 'Exit: Pursued by a Bear'

FOND DU LAC – Local actors have been preparing this winter for a play on domestic violence that will take audiences on an unconventional journey of emotions.

Impact Theatre Co. will present “Exit: Pursued by a Bear” starting at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts, 51 Sheboygan St. Additional shows will be at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20 and 21 and 2 p.m. Jan. 22.

The revenge comedy written by Lauren Gunderson follows Nan Carter as she tapes her husband Kyle to a chair to teach him a lesson. She, her best friend Simon and new friend Sweetheart reenact Nan and Kyle's painful past in front of him. The three traverse freedom, repentance and vengeance throughout the one-act show.

“It is a great show — it’s funny, but raw,” director Bree Gens said. “It's hard to say that we are producing a comedy about domestic violence, and we probably don't need to; it deals with domestic violence, but really, it is a comedy about a woman finding her strength to break free from a dangerous situation; something that seems like it should be easy, but we all know is not.”

Gens was drawn to the script through one of Nan’s monologues in the show and how natural the writing was, flowing as if it was spoken by a real person, she said.

The company will provide resources and information on domestic violence at all showings. SSM Health representatives will host a talkback after one of the shows to discuss Gunderson's writing choices, which show common behaviors in domestic violence situations.

Among the show's promotions on Impact Theatre's Facebook page, there are posts with additional resources, including links to sexual assault resource provider ASTOP and Fond du Lac's Solutions Center for domestic abuse and homelessness.

Playwright Gunderson wrote the show based on Elizabethan and Jacobean revenge tragedies — such as William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” — and adds comedy to disarm stereotypes of abuse, according to Gunderson’s website.

The title of the play comes from one of Shakespeare’s famous stage directions, which the characters use in the show: Nan and her friends cover the room in meat and honey, so that Kyle may or may not be mauled by a bear.

“This is a play I’ve always wanted to write — a violent play that glitters,” Gunderson wrote in her breakdown of the play. “A play that calls out the insipid denigration of women in America by laughing at idiots … before leaving them for dead.”

“Exit: Pursued by a Bear” is the first of three plays in Gunderson’s Will to the Power series, which are all comedies based on Shakespeare plays. The other two plays are “Toil and Trouble” and “The Taming.”

Impact Theatre’s production, assistant directed by Sethe Christiansen, stars Hannah Holzmann as Nan, Max Benitz as Kyle, Nicholas Lamers as Simon and Sydney Pomrening as Sweetheart.

Impact Theatre Company formed in 2019 "to impact the community by giving a voice to all groups of people through fearless theatre."

It debuted with a Carol Crawl that same year and then performed its first show, "We Are; We Will" in Annie's Fountain City Café in early 2020.

Other shows the company has produced include the virtual play “Six Feet of Distance Apart,” “Heathers: The Musical” and, most recently, several performances of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” across Fond du Lac County.

Tickets for "Exit: Pursued by a Bear" are $20 and are available online at thelmaarts.org.

Contact Daphne Lemke at dlemke@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @daphlemke.

This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Impact Theatre Co. takes on domestic violence with revenge comedy play