Stupid F**king Bird, Aaron Posner’s “sort of” adaptation of Anton Checkov’s The Seagull, played at UW-Milwaukee’s Kenilworth 508 Theater for one weekend only and functioned as both an astute reflection on the nature of theater in modern times, and a distillation of the great playwright’s eloquent diatribe. Under Jim Tasse’s direction, the exceedingly well-cast student ensemble delivered an opening night performance more polished than many seen in professional theater. The depth of research and development the production and performance team put into their work was apparent.
Among the performance ensemble, Morganna Milgrim as Mosh was particularly impressive. She demonstrated both impeccable character comprehension and execution, as well as gorgeous musicianship in her several songs for voice and ukulele. A likewise memorable character was Tim Gutknecht’s Sorin, the wry, understated doctor-uncle of whom nobody takes much heed, but who nevertheless has some of the greatest insights about the pretenses we make in our daily lives. Gutnecht’s vocal control was especially commendable and allowed him to be heard by the entire room while speaking at barely more than a whisper.
The set, designed by Anna Evans, well served Posner’s modern, presentational script. Actors not directly involved in the action sat on daises upstage where they could be seen—and occasionally react in subtle ways to the downstage action—but did not draw too much focus. A wide variety of furniture pieces and household items (especially those related to alcohol) created the gestalt image of a messy smorgasbord of human and theatrical life: a perfect visual metaphor for the play’s rambling exploration of the life of an artist, inner and outer, professional and personal.
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Posner’s writing cannot be an easy undertaking for any actor; it calls its performers to alternate quickly between naturalistic interpersonal scene work and avant-garde direct audience address, among other challenges. This fine group of artists did much to let the ideas and stylistic exploration shine. In the course of just a couple of hours, we the audience were invited to question our understanding of the nature of art, consider how professional ambition affects familial and other interpersonal relationships, and tolerate the kind of narrative ambiguity that convention teaches us we can escape when we enter a theater.
