“Black Bear Island” worth seeing

Doesn’t it seem as if the best mysteries take place on remote, isolated islands with small groups of the “Damned”?
That’s what’s taking place in Karissa Murrell Myers’ “Black Bear Island,”, set on an island in the Pacific Northwest on a wonderful set from Daniel Allen, worthy of “Maine Cabin Masters.”
It’s not always clear what’s going on, because events bounce back and forth in time, although involving the same people.
There’s an apparent suicide, a lethal bear and nature and, maybe, a ghost.
The story is triggered by Amitra (Gabrielle Nunzio), returned to the island after a long absence because of splits in her family and a family death.
This brings back her long-ago romance with Warren (played here by three cast members).
Events spin back and forth in time and across Allen’s set, from the cabin at one end of the altered seating to the giant rocks and vegetation at the other end, overlain with the sounds of the bear.
This is the second amazing set from Alleyway this season, following up on “Wipeout,” last fall.
All of this is in the shadow of the mysterious bear, almost never seen but with attacks on humans visible on some bodies.
This is an island with all the good points and bad points, like local gossip Marjorie (Kathleen Rooney) commenting on events, like the bear.
Life in a small town can mean everyone knows you and there are no secrets, although that’s not always true on this rural island.
Things are occurring which only seem to come to conclusion years later and lead to more departures.
“Black Bear” suffers from the standard problem of this plot, weak clarity of which time period this is.
Here, it’s made easier by having at least two people playing the character, young and older, making it all more clear.
After a while, the audience has more clarity because you have matched the characters.
It’s all a little like starting a bicycle ride, getting more comfortable with what’s going on across this corner of a rocky island, better understanding the characters and the events of the past leading to the present.
That makes “Black Bear Island” worth seeing.
It offers a strong performance from Nunzio and strong direction from Daniel F. Lendzian, on Allen’s stage to tell a good story.