Carter Bratton and Miranda McGee Bratton Photo courtesy of Clifton Performance Theatre

Claire and James are portrayed by Miranda McGee Bratton and Carter Bratton. (They are actually a married couple, which probably adds some intensity to their performances.) After nine months in the woods, Claire struggles to sustain their diminished food supplies, supplemented by some mushrooms she has found, which might or might not be poisonous. She's also contending with a white fox that's been attacking their chickens and goats. James motivated their retreat from civilization; he still copes with lingering anxiety using a mechanical device, a bell that rings randomly, cuing him to blankly meditate. That might be working for him, but it's a source of frustration for Claire, who constantly busies herself with mending, food prep, and agonizing over how they are going to get by.

The couple periodically has a back-to-back conversation about the history of their "escape" from contemporary life. A series of such moments slowly reveal their past, including a personal trauma that possesses Claire and seems to haunt James, perhaps the root of his need to periodically escape. The story is set in mid-November, nine months into their retreat from the world, with the couple facing shortages of food and a harsh winter. Their tightly balanced existence is interrupted by the startling arrival of Richard (Randy Bailey), a grizzled survivalist they met on their early foray into the wilderness, who bursts into their cabin at the end of the first act.

Richard is a harbinger of what the future might hold for them: He speaks incoherently, using ominous words and phrases, and we piece together that he's been existing alone a few hours away for 16 years, suffering some horrific losses. Claire is horrified by what he represents but also fascinated by his presence; James retreats into his meditations as Claire and Richard drink whiskey and waltz awkwardly. When he breaks out of his trance, James is jealous and threatening. The story ends violently and rather incoherently, with a puppet of the white fox Claire has been battling entering the cabin.

What to make of this play is rather challenging. It's clearly a condemnation of the deterioration of contemporary society that pushed James and Claire to run away, but it also leads to serious questioning as to whether their flight is the solution. Richard's arrival seems to be an ominous warning, and the intrusion of nature–in the form of the fox's constant raids–might suggest that isolation and evasion are mistaken paths and dead ends, since chaos ultimately prevails.

Bell's script was apparently developed in 2018 at an Idaho playwrights conference (which might explain the subject of survival in the wilderness, although her play's remote setting is not specifically indicated), but has not previously been produced. It offers a trio of challenging roles, with interactions shaped here by director Kevin Crowley. The Brattons are accomplished performers for Cincinnati's alternative theatre scene (Miranda is a past regular with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company), and their acting skills are front and center playing these prickly, damaged characters. Bailey, another alternative theatre veteran, is mysterious, threatening, and darkly attractive as the shambling, damaged Richard.

It's good to have Clifton Performance Theatre producing shows locally, drawing on veteran performers and directors. It's an adventurous presenter willing to take on scripts that might still be works in progress. The People in the Woods could benefit from further tightening and focus regarding its message, but this production is certainly timely, given the present state of the world. It's easy to imagine how people today might find escaping everyday civilization an attractive option. Bell's play could be an uncomfortable warning that it's not an easy way out.

Clifton Performance Theatre's The People in the Woods runs through September 21, 2025, at Liberty Exhibition Hall, 3938 Spring Grove Ave., Cincinnati OH. For tickets and information, please visit Liberty Exhibition Hall on Facebook or call 513-813-7469.