With a provocative title and a deep connection to classical theatre, Stupid Fucking Bird is taking over Theatre Inconnu. The play is a modern retelling of Chekhov’s The Seagull that remains quite faithful to the original plot. Director Morgan Gadd’s appreciation for the source material deeply inspired the direction taken for the play.
“The Seagull was a story about a group of people, mostly family, who are estate owners in Russia at the turn of the century,” says Gadd. “And Chekhov himself… a person who was really in tune with the people and the times of his day, he was aware that society was breaking up, coming apart at the seams, and that there were big social changes coming. And, of course, this is the turn of the 19th century into the 20th century. And the Russian Revolution is just a few years away. I think he sensed it was coming. Because the characters in that play, who are all landowners, they feel that something’s coming, but they don’t know what it is. But they’re very unsettled. They’re trying to figure it out. They’re trying to find out ways to kind of cope with the changes that are hitting them and tearing their lives apart, basically.”
For the story’s main character, Con (from the original character Konstantin), the main goal is to create art that can soothe the imminent transitions in life.
“Con is a struggling young playwright,” says Gadd. “He’s trying to find new forms of art that will address the issues that he’s got. Things like identity issues, who are we as people, social issues like how do we cope when the government doesn’t work? How do we cope when we’re surrounded by situations outside of our control, like climate change, things that reach into and affect our lives?”
However, those worried about the story being more of a lecture have nothing to fear. While the political motivations for the character’s art are present, Con is also motivated by love. He writes this new play for Nina, the woman he’s pining for—but, as always in drama, it’s more complicated than that.
“In both plays, there is a pentangle of unrequited love among the characters—each character, almost every character, is in love with someone who doesn’t love them back,” says Gadd.
The original play, however, brings some complications to the stage—namely the large cast. Despite Gadd’s love for The Seagull, he says it wouldn’t be accessible for the theatre.
“We were not in a position to perform the original. And the main reason, I guess, you could say is that the cast is huge, like 14, or something like that. Back in the day, they had large productions, with lots of people in their shows; now this play only has seven.”
Despite the reduced cast, Stupid Fucking Bird is still ambitious for its scope.
“By modern community theatre standards, [seven] is a pretty large cast,” says Gadd.
Gadd speaks warmly about the atmosphere of community theatre—and this production brings in the best of the actors they’ve already worked with.
“Very often, and especially in community theatre, you end up with plays with many new people that don’t really know each other, haven’t worked before… It’s often an entry point for new young and aspiring actors. So what we have in this play, is that all of the characters in Stupid Fucking Bird, I would call them… veterans of Theatre Inconnu.”
For Gadd, the magic of community theatre is about just that: community.
“It’s about ensemble,” he says, “it’s not about ego.”
Stupid Fucking Bird
Various days and times, Wednesday, November 29 until Saturday, December 16
Various prices (student tickets $10), Theatre Inconnu
theatreinconnu.com