Zac Brightbill as Dev, JC Payne as Con. Photo by Harvey Levine.
Since seeing a performance of Aaron Posner’s “Stupid F*cking Bird” at Silver Spring Stage on October 30, I find my mind racing in a blend of contradictory emotions. Is Posner paying homage, or poking irreverent fun, to the source material—Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull”—or both? What was his goal in writing “Bird,” aside from exercising his very vivid imagination?
If Freud famously declared that mental health means the ability to love and to work, the characters in “The Seagull,” written in 1895 and first performed a year later, are failing either partially or completely at both.
Ricky Drummond did a fine job pulling together a seamless production that both displays ensemble acting at its best but underscores each character’s individuality.
Posner, better known in the area as a director but in all cases with an affinity for the classics, has captured the professional, artistic, and romantic frustrations of Chekhov’s work but also injected a great deal of humor.
There are no mixed emotions regarding the acting in “Stupid F*cking Bird.” In his directorial debut, Ricky Drummond did a fine job pulling together a seamless production that both displays ensemble acting at its best but underscores each character’s individuality.
The statement in the program, however, that “The Seagull,” has no relevance to modern audiences is annoying. The play itself diverged from other dramatic works of the time by veering away from melodrama and moving toward subtext.
If “The Seagull” is irrelevant, why have been so many theatrical and film productions—with another movie due to come out this year? And is not part of the appeal of “Stupid F*cking Bird” that it derives from Chekhov’s masterwork?
Posner’s play, which had its premiere at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre, won the 2014 Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical and has been performed many times.
By the way, you don’t have to be familiar with “The Seagull’ to appreciate “Stupid F*cking Bird,” but it helps.
The cast was strong, proving once again Silver Spring Stage’s ability to tackle challenging material.
Con, who might be considered the main, and certainly the most self-pitying and hopeless, character, has several challenges—he hates his mother, he wants to create “new” art, and he loves the elusive Nina, who can’t love him back.
Ironically, JC Payne, who plays Con, most recently portrayed Konstantin (the parallel character) in a production of “The Seagull” in Harrisburg, Pa. He is hilarious and poignant, over-the-top, and convincingly suicidal. (In the original play, he succeeds.)
Despite her resentment toward her son, Con, and her flamboyant self-involvement, Emily Morrison conveys the likeability of the aging actress, Emma. Her high point may be when she explains, hysterically, to her lover Trig why he will not end up with the much-younger Nina, despite their attraction.
Though Trig (based on the Trigorin of “The Seagull”) might be played as an arrogant and famous writer sure of his allure for women, Kevin Dykstra’s performance is more muted, and therefore, more powerful.
Annie Caruso doesn’t have the ingénue quality we usually associate with Nina—a mediocre actress who lacks the capacity to return genuine feelings. But she is endearing nonetheless, especially in her affectations in Con’s play.
Craig Miller is the regretful older doctor, Sorn, who’d like to return to his 20s, and Tori Boutin is Mash, who loves Dev, even as he too loves Nina. Zac Brightbill is a lively, almost impish, Dev.
The audience was appreciative, especially of the play’s humor, but rather small compared to most productions I’ve seen at the Stage. Was it the balmy weather, or the play’s title? At least one audience member commented afterward that she was put off by the frequent vulgarity—as was I.
Advisory: One brief scene of semi-undress and simulated sex. Lots of language. Gunshots.
Running Time: One hour and 55 minutes long, with one 15-mnute intermission.
“Stupid F*cking Bird” plays through November 12 at Silver Spring Stage, Woodmoor Shopping Center, 10145 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20901. For information and tickets, contact (301) 593-6036 or click here.
