THE curtain came down after a successful three day run of “Wojtek the Bear” by Tweed Theatre at the Eastgate Theatre on Saturday past.

The production bucked the usual trappings of a Tweed Theatre show as props and stage furniture were minimal – two rostra, two 25 pounder artillery shells and a blanket – the effects being produced by a little sound and lighting magic, the two actors and the musician.

Costumes added to the general look with Piotr, the Polish soldier, in military garb and Wojtek in drab top and baggy trousers, subtly suggesting a bear shape.

Raymond Raszkowski Ross, the playwright, weaves the story of the bear saved by Polish soldier survivors of the Gulag into an often poetic shimmer of words , glances, music and silences.

Wojtek and Piotr, his soldier mentor and “Mama”, meet as spirits at the opening and look back on their adventures together.

They move from Syrian desert through Italy to a resettlement camp near Duns after the war and eventually, for Wojtek, to Edinburgh Zoo.

Throughout the play the politics of a turbulent period are juxtaposed against the “ordinary” lives of a man and his bear, in war and peace.

Graham McIntosh subtly demonstrated the complex, ambiguous emotions of a man trying to do his best in hard and confusing times, but always feeling that he may have betrayed his bear comrade.

Alan Kelso cleverly handled the difficult job of portraying the bear by changes of movement and tone of delivery.

The interaction of both created a believable world in which bear and man exchanged views on the big questions of life – faith, hope, love, identity- as well as simpler things like the gourmet qualities of boot polish versus shaving cream.

Rob McLeod’s fiddle set the musical tone beautifully, ranging from lively ceilidh tunes, through brooding Chopinesque “Zal”, to rousing military marches. His soulful rendition of Flooers o’ the Forest tellingly accompanied the actors’ last words as the lights went down at the end.

Perhaps the last words should go to the playwright’s creations. In one of the most resonant of the exchanges in this two hander Wojtek says”You humans, you all have reasons. What can’t you just be?” Piotr answers wistfully “If I knew the answer to that, I’d know the answer to everything.”