T H E L O V E B I R D S
In Brief: A climate-change scientist tries to save a dying bird species — and ultimately heal the planet — as he fights for his own survival. He captures and brings together an endangered male and female to mate but soon learns that love comes easily for neither man nor beast. With a character mash up of birds and humans, THE LOVEBIRDS moves fluidly between fantasy and reality — sometimes within the same scene. It’s a highly theatrical, language-bending story about human instinct and desire through the scientific and slightly surreal lens of bird mating rituals. A darkly comic eco-fantasy about dwindling biodiversity, the hubris of trying to control nature, and the heartache for any species of not being heard. (Inspired by legendary ecologist and nature "sound collector" Bernie Kause and his recording of an abandoned woodpecker.)
Development History: THE LOVEBIRDS will be included in Rattlestick Theatre’s 2018 JAM in NYC. It received a 2016 workshop in NYC at Athena Theatre Company, which presented it in two public excerpted readings. It was developed in 2016/2017 in Boston as part of Company One’s Play Labs Unit under the mentorship of Kirsten Greenidge. Additionally, the play was a finalist for production at Boston’s Fresh Ink Theatre, a finalist in LA’s Boston Court New Play Reading Series, Kansas City’s Unicorn Theatre 2018 New Play Reading Series, and a semi-finalist in Forward Flux Productions’ 2019 New American Plays series and IATI Theatre’s 2016 Cimientos Award, NYC. It is featured in Smith & Kraus’ Best Monologues of 2017 and was the official selection in readings at both the 2018 Comparative Drama Conference and 2018 Earth Matters on Stage Festival, where it was a finalist.
In Brief: A climate-change scientist tries to save a dying bird species — and ultimately heal the planet — as he fights for his own survival. He captures and brings together an endangered male and female to mate but soon learns that love comes easily for neither man nor beast. With a character mash up of birds and humans, THE LOVEBIRDS moves fluidly between fantasy and reality — sometimes within the same scene. It’s a highly theatrical, language-bending story about human instinct and desire through the scientific and slightly surreal lens of bird mating rituals. A darkly comic eco-fantasy about dwindling biodiversity, the hubris of trying to control nature, and the heartache for any species of not being heard. (Inspired by legendary ecologist and nature "sound collector" Bernie Kause and his recording of an abandoned woodpecker.)
Development History: THE LOVEBIRDS will be included in Rattlestick Theatre’s 2018 JAM in NYC. It received a 2016 workshop in NYC at Athena Theatre Company, which presented it in two public excerpted readings. It was developed in 2016/2017 in Boston as part of Company One’s Play Labs Unit under the mentorship of Kirsten Greenidge. Additionally, the play was a finalist for production at Boston’s Fresh Ink Theatre, a finalist in LA’s Boston Court New Play Reading Series, Kansas City’s Unicorn Theatre 2018 New Play Reading Series, and a semi-finalist in Forward Flux Productions’ 2019 New American Plays series and IATI Theatre’s 2016 Cimientos Award, NYC. It is featured in Smith & Kraus’ Best Monologues of 2017 and was the official selection in readings at both the 2018 Comparative Drama Conference and 2018 Earth Matters on Stage Festival, where it was a finalist.