“What War Horse did for horses, The Breathing Hole does for bears.
The central character of Colleen Murphy’s new play is Angu’juaq, a polar bear whose preternatural, not to say symbolic, existence stretches from 500 years in the past to 20 years in the future…
The production throughout is an audio-visual treat, what with Daniela Masselis’ set designs and Itai Erdai’s bright Northern lights and Carmen Braden’s soundscore. The final tableau, the previously immortal bear in an oil-drenched sea, is unforgettable. And though some of this may be put down to anthropomorphic sentimentality, it strikes deeper than that. There are plenty of plays that tell of climate change. This may be the first to find a way of showing it.”