NEW YORK — A subset of people, when faced with, say, cancer, prefer to keep their health crisis a secret. It often comes from a detestation of being treated as a victim, or a desire to protect loved ones from pain. But it can also be about autonomy.

In Samuel D. Hunter’s beautiful play “Little Bear Ridge Road,” the remarkable actress Laurie Metcalf plays such a woman: Sarah, from red-state America, the playwright’s native Idaho. Sarah is a gruff, determined American who hates dependency with every fiber of her being. “It’s no one’s business but mine! It’s my body!” she shouts at one point. “Can I just have control over one thing, just my own damn body?”

“Little Bear Ridge Road” originated with a commission and this same cast at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and is one of three pro

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