Last night I saw the play “Stupid Fucking Bird” at Lycoming College. The title contains a swear word. They spelled it “Stupid F**king Bird” for the program and promotional material. It takes balls to use a swear word in the title of your play because that is grounds for most theaters to decline to produce it. “Stupid Fucking Bird” is a great mix of comedy and tragedy based on “The Seagull” by Anton Chekhov. As I often point out, it is essential to be familiar with the work of Anton Chekhov to pick up the many references to his work in modern plays. He is also essential for understanding the plays of Brian Friel. I have read the play “Stupid Fucking Bird” by Aaron Posner.
Even though this was a student production, I thought it was well acted and it managed to affect me. I appreciate drama’s ability to move me. This production strove to be metatheatre and the fourth wall was frequently broken. An amusing instance occurred when a character was making a sandwich and the audience groaned. The actor reacted to that with a look of confusion because there was nothing that gross in the sandwich he was making. It seemed there was an effort to remind the audience that they were watching a play. For example, no effort was made to hide the winch that was used to pull the kitchen set forward. The operation of the winch was an interesting peek into stage craft that you don’t normally see.
I have not seen a play in a long time. I was a bit tired and my thoughts took a strange turn. They played some classic rock songs during the intermission and I got the impression of being in a strip club, dive bar, rock club, or some other nighttime haunt instead of a theater. I found myself fantasizing of unexpectedly finding myself back stage of some nighttime haunt, in a strange world. One of the characters in the play was dressed like a goth rocker and sang songs using an ukulele designed to look like an electric guitar (cute). I think that contributed to the strange impression that was created in my mind.
