PlayPenn Visits Broadway: "Little Bear Ridge Road" & Dinner with Playwright Samuel D. Hunter

"Little Bear Ridge Road is one of the finest new plays of the year. Mr. Hunter achieves mightily powerful effects which only enhance the tenderness and humanity of his writing." - Charles Isherwood, The Wall Street Journal

“This is a deeply beautiful piece of writing, bleakly funny, poetic in its plainness, aching in its intense empathy for the characters, brought to brilliant life, and eventually explosive drama, by Metcalf and Stock under the precise, elegant direction of Joe Mantello.” - Steven Oxman, Chicago Sun-Times

"Little Bear Ridge Road has too many riches to explore in this space. Laurie Metcalf is one of the brightest lights of the American stage. She is, indeed, extraordinary." - Elisabeth Vincentelli, The New York Times

Join us for a special afternoon fundraiser in New York City celebrating one of PlayPenn‘s most successful playwrights, Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale) as he makes his Broadway debut with Little Bear Ridge Road starring Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne, The Conners, Three Tall Women) and Micah Stock (Kindred), directed by Joe Mantello (Wicked) after a sold-out run at Steppenwolf Theatre. A private dinner and conversation with the playwright will follow the matinee performance. Limited seats available!

All charitable contributions from this event will benefit PlayPenn and its many free programs for playwrights, including the New Play Development Conference, The Foundry, and The Playwrights Cohort. By purchasing a ticket, you help ensure that Philadelphia remains a national center for new play development.

Your ticket doesn’t just grant access to a matinee and dinner; it helps shape the future of theatre in Philadelphia and across the nation..

Your purchase includes:

• Ticket for (1) person;

• Admission to the 2pm matinee performance of Little Bear Ridge Road on January 17, 2026 (1:30pm - 3:35pm);

• Center Orchestra or Front Mezzanine seating;

• A private group dinner and conversation with playwright Samuel D. Hunter. (4:00pm - 7:00pm)

Your purchase does not include:

• Transportation to, from, or within New York City.

Four-time Emmy^® and two-time Tony Award^® winner Laurie Metcalf returns to Broadway opposite Tony Award^® nominee Micah Stock in Little Bear Ridge Road, the wry and piercing new play by Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale), directed by two-time Tony Award^®  winner Joe Mantello. This production marks Hunter’s Broadway debut and Metcalf and Mantello’s seventh collaboration.

Set on the remote edge of a small Idaho town, Little Bear Ridge Road centers on a razor-tongued aunt and her long-estranged nephew who find themselves suddenly back in each other’s lives — two lonely souls with a crumbling house to sell and a tangled history to unravel. Bitingly funny and quietly explosive, Little Bear Ridge Road lays bare our messy, human need to reach across voids for one another, even when it shakes us to the bones.

Pursuant to Pennsylvania and federal law, we are required to disclose the fair market value (FMV) of goods or services the donor receives. The total fair market value of the dinner ($75), conversation ($50), and show ticket ($179) is $304 per person. Accordingly, only the portion of a donor’s payment that exceeds that FMV (your charitable contribution) is deductible for federal tax purposes. A final FMV will be shared in your Donor Acknowledgment Letter as the value of the dinner may change.