UBC Theatre and Film present the final mainstage production of its 2022/2023 season, The Birds, by Indigenous playwright Yvette Nolan.
The Birds is an irreverent adaptation of Aristophanes’ classic comedy that follows two humans seeking freedom and a better way of life as they travel to the land of the birds. While one character has little regard for the land’s occupants and sets about constructing their own utopian “paradise,” the other begins to listen and respond to the birds with openness and curiosity. This play challenges typical notions of form and the colonial narrative, reflecting on pressing contemporary issues of colonialism and reconciliation.
The Birds has followed a unique rehearsal process with a comprehensive workshop period and Michelle’s use of “story weaving”; a practice of layering stories with images, sound, and movement created by feminist Indigenous company Spiderwoman Theatre. It is also the first mainstage production to be performed in the Dorothy Somerset Studio, an intimate and transformable black box venue.
“Through this adaptation of The Birds, Yvette Nolan invites us into the world of the birds grappling with the invasion of humans and the colonial legacy that trails behind them. Stretched out before us like hide on a frame, the images and story scrape the hide clean, so we too can see the story of our country. Yvette is asking all of us to sit with the consequences of this colonial mess and open our hearts to the truth. It is a way of imagining our path forward.” – director Michelle Olson.
