“We surprised ourselves”: Tenterhooks bring Hercules the Bear to Edinburgh

Scotland’s most unlikely folk hero, a 10-foot grizzly raised in Sheriffmuir, is reborn on stage as Tenterhooks bring Hercules the Bear to Edinburgh tonight.

It sounds like a tall tale, the kind you might swap in a pub at closing time. A Scottish couple raising a ten-foot grizzly in their home? A bear who wrestled men in kilts, became a television personality, and even went missing for 24 days in the Outer Hebrides during a Kleenex commercial?

But Hercules the Bear was no myth. From Sheriffmuir to Benbecula, from chat shows to a James Bond cameo, he became a genuine folk hero. Now, forty years on, his story is about to return to Scottish stages in a new production by Tenterhooks.

Ahead of tonight’s opening at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre Studio, I sat down with the company — Diane Thornton, Suzie Ferguson, and Fergus Dunnet — to talk about clowning, puppetry, and the challenge of capturing Hercules’ unique personality for a new generation.

A folk legend reborn

For lead artist Fergus Dunnet, the project has roots in childhood memory. “When I was four years old I saw Hercules wrestling in the street outside my local butchers. My parents would come back from the pub and tell us that Hercules had been sitting next to them at the bar. It was exciting but also kind of normal.”

As he grew older, the bear became half-forgotten folklore. “Every now and then he would come up in conversation … some people had wild stories like Hercules visiting their primary class or charging at them on a golf course, others had never heard of him and couldn’t believe it had really happened. I got excited by the idea of introducing Hercules to a new generation and encouraging conversations between generations centred around this charismatic grizzly bear.”

“My parents would come back from the pub and tell us that Hercules had been sitting next to them at the bar. It was exciting but also kind of normal.”

Fergus Dunnet

Hercules’ adopted mother, Maggie Robin, has given her blessing, and will appear at certain performances. “I’m so excited that the story of Hercules — and Andy and I — will be told on stage for the first time … The show Tenterhooks have created is such a great tribute … the Hercules puppets are so lifelike!”

Clowns, puppets, and a very large bear

For Diane Thornton, who plays Maggie Robin, the process has been anything but conventional. “What script? Our process is physical and visual,” she laughs. “How we made the show was hugely inspired by clown director John Wright who came to work with us and essentially gave us a masterclass in devising through clown … by constantly asking ourselves ‘what do we like’ as we improvised ideas, we’ve arrived at a version of Herc’s story that could only be told by us.”

Suzie Ferguson, who performs Hercules through puppetry and physical comedy, describes it as a leap into new territory. “Puppetry is fairly new for me, and one that I am really enjoying diving into — especially combining it with physical comedy.”

**Hercules the Bear_Suzie Ferguson, Diane Thornton & Ben Winger – Credit Eoin Carey**

Dunnet adds that the collective process surprised even them: “It surprised me that through that process we did get a really clear sense of Herc’s personality and how confident, caring, gentle and cheeky he was … I was happily surprised to find it was Herc’s charming personality and the magical experience of being with a unique grizzly bear that took centre stage.”

Details at a glance: Hercules the Bear tour

Tour dates: 27 September – 29 October 2025

Press night: 30 September, The Studio at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Venues include: Ayr, Dunkeld, Cumbernauld, Crieff, New Galloway, Paisley, Glasgow, North Uist, Stornoway, Inverness, Cromarty, Banchory, Aberdeen, Dunblane, Auchterarder

Run time: 50 minutes

Age guidance: 6+ (involves a large, realistic bear puppet)

Theatre for all ages

If the premise sounds outlandish, the ethos is rooted in care. Thornton says accessibility has always been fundamental. “More than the age of the audience, I like to consider audiences who don’t attend theatre often or who might feel barriers to accessing theatre. When we make work we’re thinking about the audience all the time and concentrating on how to communicate that they are welcome, that the performance will be unique because of each individual in the room.”

Ferguson believes young people deserve the same respect as adults. “Young people have rich and complicated emotional lives just like us … very often with a lot more wisdom!” she says. “I have very fond memories of watching physical comedy shows with my parents and loving seeing them laughing, and the feeling of laughing together felt like such a wonderful connection. Laughter closes the gap between us all.”

Sometimes that perspective comes with a touch of wry humour. “If the same folk who sit round the telly enjoying Strictly together can come and watch our work and share the experience, then I’m delighted,” Thornton notes. “Even though I don’t watch Strictly because ballroom dancing facial expressions make me embarrassed (sorry!).”

“When we make work we’re thinking about the audience all the time and concentrating on how to communicate that they are welcome, that the performance will be unique because of each individual in the room.”

Diane Thornton

The making of Hercules

The show has been devised without a fixed script, an approach that kept it fluid and surprising. “We surprised ourselves every day while making this show,” Ferguson says. “I don’t think we were very attached to a fixed outcome at the beginning … happily surprised by how we have embraced the fact that we don’t rationally ‘know’ what Hercules’ inner experience was but that there was so much richness and fun in exploring what we feel it might have been like.”

For Dunnet, the task was daunting. “From the start I think we were all excited about trying to tell Hercules’ story, but also intimidated by portraying an animal character like Hercules without putting words into his mouth or humanising him too much. We watched videos of Andy, Maggie and Herc, spoke to Maggie, and improvised lots of different moments with Herc … the combination of clowning and puppetry allowed us to show these different sides of Herc, some more human and some more animal.”

A message of love and kindness

Asked what the show is really about, Ferguson doesn’t hesitate. “For me it is about love, really. About the courage it takes to accept others for who and how they are, even though they are so different from us. The joy of being accepted.”

Dunnet points back to Maggie Robin’s words: “Never did bad because nothing bad was ever done to him.” That line, he says, became a touchstone. “Kindness and understanding are important themes for us. We’ve tried to show how two humans and a grizzly bear came together to achieve something the rest of the world thought was impossible.”

Thornton frames it as an invitation to play. “Making a production that engages different generations and whole family groups gives people the opportunity to keep talking about it, and maybe to play together about it … the performance doesn’t end until you stop thinking about it.”

Hercules remembered

The bear himself is long gone — Andy Robin died in 2019, Hercules in 2000 — but the fascination endures. Dunnet recalls friends swapping tall tales: Hercules winning Scottish Personality of the Year (he did), or allegedly appearing at their school. “Some people had wild stories … others couldn’t believe it had really happened. That mix of memory and disbelief is exactly what we wanted to capture.”

And tonight, Edinburgh audiences will see that mix play out in real time: a life-sized puppet, clowning, comedy, and a dash of myth. “We would love whole families to come and see this show,” Ferguson says. “We hope people leave bubbling with conversation, curiosity and connection.”

Thornton agrees: “The performance will be unique because of each individual in the room.”

And for Dunnet, the boy who once saw Hercules outside a butcher’s, it’s a chance to share the legend with a new generation. “Stories are meaningful in different ways to each audience member,” he reflects. “That’s what makes Hercules such a folk hero — he belonged to everyone.”

Featured Image: Hercules the Bear_Suzie Ferguson, Diane Thornton & Ben Winger – Credit Eoin Carey