The play is a fictional account of an event that happened in the Forest of Dean in the 1890s when four Frenchmen came over the border from Gloucester with dancing bears, who were subsequently killed by miners coming off the late shift in retaliation for an unrelated attack on a young local girl.
False rumours are circulating that Gina had mauled one of the schoolchildren the pair had encountered on their arrival over the border.
Back in the forest, Rebecca's body has been discovered and the local constabulary set to work interviewing the residents of the nearby towns.
As the shocked villagers gather together back at the tavern, a desperate Mickey convinces the townsfolk that the bear was responsible.
As the preacher calls on the congregation to vanquish the beast in their midst, the villagers choose to see this as a reference to Joe and Gina and a group of miners head off in pursuit of their quarry.