By Ernest Kearney — Some plays, due to the period of their composition or the language in which originally penned, present various problems for those wishing to stage them. But none hold more difficulties than Aristophanes’ The Birds.
This most famous comedy of the ancient world’s most famous playwright was first staged in 414 B.C.E., and is bursting with places unknown to contemporary audiences (Laurium, Olophyxia, the Hebrus and Alpheus Rivers) as well as personalities of Aristophanes’ Athens (Nicias, Cleisthenes, Lusicrates and Proxenides) to whom many of the play’s jokes are aimed.
The current production of The Birds, mounted by The Sacred Fools Theater Company, at The Broadwater for HFF2019 has attempted to retool the classic piece with modern references. They start off strong by projecting the iconic image of crows gathering on a jungle gym set from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds as a faux Tippi Hedren (Therese Olson) goes scurrying across the stage.
From there we are served numerous jabs at Donald Trump, are offered some nice musical interludes, some nice puppets by Joyce Hutter and a fair amount of silliness.
Director Sabrina Lloyd does her best, but the production was obliviously a patch work, rushed to make the Fringe. However, while she and her crew bit off more than they could chew, they didn’t completely choke on it. The show 
managed to spit a couple of well-aimed wads in the direction of that troll in the oval office and it was fun enough to earn —
A SILVER MEDAL
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For Complete Show Information and Reservations For The Birds Go To: http://hff19.org/6125
