By the time this play was announced, I had read and thoroughly enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
So Mark Haddon’s name was a big draw for me.
The Curious Incident centres around autism, whereas Polar Bears centres around bipolar disorder.
Polar Bears was fabulous cast (Richard Coyle and Jodhi May in particular), beautifully produced, etc., but by gosh was it depressing and predictable to watch the inevitable tragedy unfold.
It is a short play – “just as well”, I recall Janie and I agreeing – I also recall us agreeing that we were pleased to have seen it but couldn’t exactly recommend it.
Here is a link to the Donmar Study Guide, now a downloadable resource.
This search term – click here – will lead you to reviews and stuff.
It didn’t put me off from booking the dramatisation of The Curious Incident a couple of years later, thank goodness – click here for my notes on that evening – which was cracking theatre – perhaps thanks to Simon Stephens combining with Mark Haddon that time.
But unfortunately Polar Bears was a continuation of a somewhat lacklustre six months of theatre for us at that time.
