By Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant
In an episode of “Seinfeld,” George Costanza sighed and said, “Ah. What’s the point? When I like them, they don’t like me. When they like me – I don’t like them.” That comedic cry for help summarizes nine-tenths of the plot to Aaron Posner’s “Stupid F*****g Bird.”
Conrad (Chris Cattell) loves Nina (Sarah Chelli), but Nina loves Trigorin (Stefan Lingenfelter) who is dating Conrad’s mom, Emma Arakdina (Maura Underwood). While Conrad’s platonic pal Mash (Sara Ashley Fisher) pines for him, Dev (Matt Henderson) swoons for Mash. Love triangles interconnect and smash into other love triangles creating complex geometric shapes. It’s a love heptagon!
The lovers and friends all wrestle for attention on the estate of Dr. Eugene Sorn (David Maslow), who is the only character without a love interest.
When the characters are not busy wooing the wrong potential partners, they spend a great deal of time talking about art. They would probably make some salient points, if they weren’t so busy wrapped up in their own hearts and heads.
There are, however, some great points made about art, love family and failure, and a surprisingly skewered look at Shakespeare’s most quoted soliloquy that’s worth the price of admission.
Posner took Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” and mixed in some fourth wall breaking “Deadpool” to create “Stupid F*****g Bird.” The play is metatextual, intertextual and chock full of subtext. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of text! It’s also a bit logorrheic (as it goes on a bit longer than it should).
Chekhov’s characters fail a lot. It makes them both funny and tragic. Conrad is flailing about as he’s failing. He’s a gigantic screw up and – worst of all – he knows it. Cattell, however, does a marvelous job as the downtrodden playwright. His asides to the audience are rage filled rants. They are poignant, eloquent and humorous all at the same time. When he rants, “You’ll all be back on your cell phones checking messages before you get out of the aisle of the theater,” he’s practically prescient.
Fisher’s Mash is more Wednesday Addams than the daughter of a Russian retired lieutenant, Ilya Afanasyevich (her father is written out of this version). Fisher gets some of the best lines in the play and she knows how to use them. She’s a delight.
Henderson’s sad sack Dev is so fun to watch. Henderson manages to eke out laughs from nearly every line, action or – in some cases – inaction. He’s goofy and charming at the same time. It’s as if he was born to play the role.
Underwood is flawless as the stone cold momma. Her Emma is a great actor who – ironically – can’t connect. Somehow Underwood garners a great deal of sympathy for the harsh creature she portrays.
Director Vince Ventura does a fantastic job with this top notch cast. He seems to understand this play instinctively and intellectually.
Scenic designer Hank Bullington makes art on a budget. The compartmentalized kitchen in the second act is beautifully rendered.
Since it wasn’t a faithful adaptation of “The Seagull,” it’s curious that Posner chose to write such a long comedy. Admittedly, “The Seagull” runs far longer at two hours and thirty minutes, but “Stupid F*****g Bird” is lengthy for a contemporary and satirical spin on the classic.
A few key notes about the title: “Stupid” is very smart. “F*****g” is in the title so don’t bring the kids (or grandma). The metaphor about the “Bird” is so sad and weird in all the best ways.
-MB
“Stupid F*****g Bird” runs until August 12 at the Richard E. Rauh Studio Theatre in the subbasement of the Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. For more information, click here.
