The play, set in the outskirts of Troy, Idaho, tells the story of an estranged nephew and his aunt who reunite at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to settle their estate of their deceased father and brother, respectively.
[5] Hunter stated that his initial point of inspiration for Little Bear Ridge Road was to write a play about people watching television, and that the pandemic setting was only added once he started writing the play in 2023, reflecting how "we all retreated to our screens" when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The cast, directed by Joe Mantello, included Laurie Metcalf as Sarah and Micah Stock as Ethan.
"[8] Steven Oxman wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times: "This is a deeply beautiful piece of writing, bleakly funny, poetic in its plainness, aching in its intense empathy for the characters".
[9] Another reviewer, Karen Topham, wrote: "Little Bear Ridge Road is everything theatre should be and everything Steppenwolf always was".