In Norfolk theater, "Stupid ... Bird" flies on the wings of satire and tragedy

A literary bird has landed in Norfolk to show us that the groping, sad side of life can be satirically amusing, if not outright hilarious.

“Stupid ... Bird,” a so-called “remix” of Anton Chekhov’s Russian whine-fest “The Seagull,” combines pathos (from Chekhov) and satire (from modern sensibilities) and surprisingly gets away with it. The modern obsession with nailing oneself to the cross gets a mischievous take here. There is no pity like self pity, so try to laugh. This evening helps.

The play is getting its local premiere at the Generic Theater and is proving that it can sit on the same shelf with Chekhov. It is the best adaptation of Chekhov since Louis Malle’s 1994 movie “Vanya on 42nd Street” and much more exciting than this year’s “The Seagull” movie adaptation that starred Annette Bening.

“Bird” is remarkable for its restraint in avoiding the vulgar or the superficial. It is an incisive attack on the phoniness of existential trauma that was somewhat introduced by Chekhov but has now come close to cliché. It’s maybe as close to a satirical Ingmar Bergman as it is to Chekhov. It manages to be hilarious while giving us a character named Mash (Abbey Ortiz) dressed all in black – “in mourning for my life” – as she sings about “the disappointment of life” while playing the ukulele. She urges the audience, strongly, to not judge.

Someone suggests marketing T-shirts that read “What About Me?” (Not a bad idea.)

As in the original, frustration, anguish and unrequited love reign. The struggling playwright Con (Gregory Dragas contributing a fine performance) suggests that it is all about: “Human beings taking as much as they can get.”

That’s a revelation. The characters often deliver soliloquies – about the meaning of art (and life). The soul talk is more interesting than the art talk, because the latter is the kind of stuff that theater people go on about when they don’t have an audience. At least this modern version eliminates all Chekhov’s talk about how everyone could be happy if they would just run away to Moscow.

There is more than a hint that the author, Aaron Posner, knows well what he is satirizing. He allows the audience to laugh even when the barbs are flying through a good deal of pathos and complexity.

In the evening’s best performance, Dragas gets authentic loss into his lamentations over the willowy Nina (Madelaine Dilley) as Nina. His yearning is authentically tragic and he manages to succeed with the overwrought comedy. He asked the audience at one point to help him out with suggestions in winning her back.

After considerable prodding, the replies started to come. One suggested “Buy her things” – a perfect modern touch.

Rashad Stukes seems too young to play Con’s best friend, but wins moments with his easygoing self-assuredness – particularly when imitating a goose talk (in contrast, one supposes, to the seagull). Kathy Srouse, our local veteran of over 90 local shows, is cast, quite believably, as Con’s mother, a veteran actress who is grand but of the past. She puts things succinctly when she urges young Nina to get out of town by sunset and “never come near me or any of my men again.”

Paul James as “the uncle” has one of the least-developed characters, but he speaks for all aging party-types when he points out that he’d like to do his late 20s over because “I feel I could do it quite well now.”

Jimmy Dragas makes quite a remarkable directing debut in keeping the balance between mournful loss and comic excess. Michael A. Zimmerman’s mid-act set is utilitarian, but shows real craftsmanship in the way such a large set can be assembled and then hidden.

At the core of this success is the intelligent writing that serves so well.

Source: https://pilotonline.com/entertainment/arts/theater/article_d2de034c-aac4-11e8-8eec-3b1a5b0582ac.html