The Birds NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (11)
See it if You want to see some really good acting and don't mind not fully fleshed out characters.
Don't see it if You are expecting scary or a play of the famous film "The Birds." If you can't stand nudity on stage or excessive use of fog. Read more
See it if you enjoy immersive theater; good acting; don't expect anything like Hitchcock's film of the same name; you support 59E59 Theater.
Don't see it if you are easily bored; are put off by gratuitous nudity which adds nothing much to the show; thought Hitchcock's film was awful; hate birds. Read more
See it if you want drama about human interactions during catastrophes & not about birds (other than some mild sound effects they are basically missing
Don't see it if you are expecting Hitchcock suspense, or McPherson's natural monologues -the ones at the end seem contrived, just to give the play a plot
See it if You have absolutely nothing else to do
Don't see it if You enjoy innovating theater with good writing and interesting dialog
See it if you like Conor McPherson so much that you even want to see his plays that don't work.
Don't see it if you have anything more exciting to do with 90 minutes of your life - theater or otherwise.
See it if You need to see every version of The Birds ! You need to see all off off Broadway shows. You don't care about the quality of shows you see.
Don't see it if You are offended by actors performing in the nude literally in front of your face ! You don't like shows that drag and use repetitive dialog
See it if you have a lot of extra time on your hands. Or if you want to see what Colin McPherson creates on an off-day.
Don't see it if you have other options. This one is truly a dud. Why did the folks at 59E59 even consider this mess for production?
See it if You want to see three actors give it all they have. They did the very best they could with the material at hand. Note: There are no birds.
Don't see it if You expect anything like Hitchcock's classic. Sadly, I felt neither threat nor terror from the phantom birds.
Critic Reviews (15)
"A listless production...As directed by Stefan Dzeparoski, this interpretation from the Toronto-based Birdland Theater generates nary a ripple of suspense...The subliminal dread that Mr. McPherson elicits so hauntingly in his other works remains buried deep here, failing to surface even when characters threateningly pick up hammers...The sum effect suggests Rod Serling, the creator of the 'Twilight Zone' series, unhappily moonlighting as a soap opera scenarist."
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"Even a brilliant playwright can have an off day, but this NYC premiere is so shabbily conceived and executed, it’s hard to know where to place the blame...This humorless, generic script feels like a first draft, halfway to a screenplay, not delving enough into the characters’ twisted emotions...Any weaknesses in the text are severely exacerbated by Stefan Dzeparoski’s clunky, low-budget, barely designed production. The actors struggle valiantly."
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"Irish playwright Conor McPherson bleeds out all suspense and transforms it into a soporific meditation on the psyches of post-apocalyptic survivors. Long before the seemingly endless play wraps up, you'll be wishing the damn birds would finish the job already...The play plods from one numbingly dull scene to the next, displaying none of the playwright's usual gift for evoking tension. As if aware of how little there is to work with, director Stefan Dzeparoski resorts to mild shock tactics."
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"Dzeparoski's production comes off as neither sexy nor scary, two things that it desperately wants to be (despite the appearance of both full-frontal nudity and hazy fog effects to attempt to set the mood on both ends). Similarly, the acting is strangely detached throughout...The lack of tension isn't their entire fault though; it's not very present in McPherson's script, either. 'The Birds' simply stays caged, when it really needs is to take flight."
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"While many people may recall the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock horror movie by the same name, this play is a standout, a thriller in its own right with intriguing characters, intense dialogue and its own suspenseful storyline. Performed in an intimate theatre space, the play features excellent staging and a talented cast. It will keep you on the edge of your seat...'The Birds' is a stark and compelling view of human desperation in the face of dire circumstances."
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“In Konstantin Roth’s scenic design, the audience sits in the four corners
of the tiny black box at 59E59 Theaters with the action taking place in
front and around them. As a result the audience is extremely close to the
action. Unfortunately, director Dzeparoski has the actors give very broad
performances which seem rather hammy up close. Ien DeNio’s sound design includes
the intermittent cawing of the birds and their attacks on the window and
the walls but are not heard often enough to be truly scary.”
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"Dzeparoski has selected a compelling script that's well suited to the three company members...The three actors handle with aplomb the challenges of performing in the round...This physical intimacy draws the spectator especially near...and it heightens the production's sense of apocalyptic horror to an unsettling degree...McPherson's new, triangular narrative reflects the fragmented fears of latter-day perils such as random acts of terrorism, climate change, and emergent viruses."
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"If you’re looking for a stage adaption of the suspense-driven movie, you won’t find a trace of it here. That’s both a plus and a minus. The plus is that this version is much more thought-provoking. But what it gains in intellectual stimulation it loses in creepiness and suspense...The strongest element in the production is Antoinette LaVecchia’s brilliant performance. She prevents the play from devolving into hysteria with her cool-headed commitment to survive."
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