Ecclesiastes 9:4 says, “Anyone who is among the living has hope.” This verse is the backdrop for “The Birds,” Samford’s first post-apocalyptic show of the spring season.
Based on the same short story which inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s film of the same name, this haunting story connects three characters brought together during the apocalypse, wondering if they are the last of the human race.
The director of the show, Don Sandley said, “Coming out of COVID, we all felt like the world had been changed, and we were sort of all grappling with what happens now, you know, if something really horrible happens. So, we sort of decided to do a season that was based on worst-case scenarios.”
Throughout the play, the audience experiences the weeks following the apocalypse with three characters hiding out in a secluded farmhouse. Cabin fever sets in quickly; the tension within the house grew throughout the duration of “The Birds.” After the spring of 2020, many of us can relate to the feeling of isolation.
The show not only focuses on the characters’ relationships with each other, but also on their individual descents into madness. The audience hears the secret thoughts of Diane, the main character of the show, as she writes in her journal. Her spiral becomes the primary focus of the story; however, we can see how the other characters’ personalities and moralities deteriorate after the apocalypse. The ghosts from their pasts haunt them, and this combines with the horrors experienced during the end times.
“This play is raw, visceral, and almost unbearably human,” Sandley says. “The question is constantly asked of the audience, ‘ok, but what would you do in this circumstance?’ Everyone has their own response of course, but if we are honest, it is difficult to ponder who we would become if society as we know it crumbled around us.”
This show featured two separate casts, with each group bringing something unique to their characters and performances. As a whole, the group deeply analyzed the play during their rehearsals. Since the script has a lot of room for interpretation, each cast member had a different view of what was happening and what would happen after the show’s events.
During the question-and-answer portion after the play, Charlotte Godat shared that there were multiple benefits to having two casts.
“For me, I was very thankful to have somebody share this role with me because it is such a dark and heavy show. Being able to share that with somebody else almost lightens the load,” Godat said. “You also get to watch your castmate make discoveries and do different things. It’s like y’all both hold the weight of the character together. Especially in a show this dark, it is really beneficial being able to have another person to talk to.”
Due to the heavy and haunting material, this show left an impact not only on the cast, but the audience as well. The Birds leaves its audience with questions and existential dread. The story will not leave the minds of its viewers anytime soon, and the internal conflict the show gives its audience will continuously haunt them, much like the unseen avian ravagers.
Arts & Life Editor
