The Lives of Three Strangers Collide in Sonya Kelly’s Once Upon a Bridge, Inspired by a True Story

-Brenda Hillegas

Over the last 20 years, Inis Nua Theatre Company has produced one world premiere, twenty-six American premieres, and seventeen Philadelphia premieres. The theatre’s mission, to produce contemporary, provocative plays from Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales, is evident in their latest premiere- Once Upon a Bridge.

This fast-paced, 75 minute show, directed by Philadelphia artist Brett Ashley Robinson, introduces audiences to a Senegalese bus driver (Walter DeShields) trying to finish his shift on time, an Irish barrister on her way to a big time job interview (Alice Yorke), and an English jogger (David Pica) trying to get his run in before a work meeting. What happens next, on a busy London bridge, is inspired by a real incident in 2017 when a jogger deliberately pushed a woman into the path of an oncoming bus. He didn’t stop to help, but the quick-thinking bus driver was able to swerve and narrowly avoid hitting the woman.

The characters in Once Upon a Bridge don’t have names. In real-life, the CCTV footage of the incident was released (and is played multiple times during Once Upon a Bridge), but the jogger was never found and the woman he pushed remains anonymous. The case was closed and many theories have popped up on the internet about who he could be, but we will never know the true motive of the “Putney Pusher” (as the media has called him). Sonya Kelly’s semi-fictional account of what took place during those few minutes before 8am on May 5th gives audiences possible backstories on the three people involved and suggests why things happened the way they did. In the play, each character speaks directly to the audience telling their version of what took place that morning. With an empty set, they weave through one another with intense storytelling to keep us on the edge of our seats.

It seems we’ll never know the truth. But at least Once Upon a Bridge reminds audiences to be aware of their surroundings, of others, and how random (and life-changing) any given moment in our day can be.