Stupid Fucking Bird

by Aaron Posner
Miami University Theatre • October 2016

Act 1. By the lake.

Stage set up for debut of Con's play

Act 1.

Con introduces the performance

Act 1

Nina poses behind the curtain

Act 1

Stage is struck

Act 1

I’m just fond of how this looks set up for an evening picnic

Act 2. The kitchen.

Between Act 2 and 3

There is a transitional movement piece that uses the whole space of the theatre

Act 3. The study.

Act 3

Dev wraps up the story

About the Design

When we all started talking about what kind of environment to create for this production of Stupid Fucking Bird, what struck us was Posner’s magnification of theatricality. Here we have an adaptation of a classic performed by actors who may be characters but are also aware of being actors presenting a play. Such a meta convention seemed to require a kind of meta space.

We were working in a black box, and the director was excited by the possibility of using all of the space. The first act begins with Con staging his play for his family. We made little distinction between the seating set up for that play and the seating for the actual play. We blurred the lines further by seating our audience in a mix of “found” chairs, as if we too were inviting friends to see a backyard production. We watched Dev set up and strike the “stage” space. Half of the theatre was further draped off, hiding the set for the second act. Place was suggested by a long representation of a lake landscape and a chinese lantern representing the moon. This theatrical representation came into play in Act 3 when the space was redressed to represent a study, and Con shoots a lamp from the ceiling.

Between Acts 1 and 2, we invited the audience to adjust their chairs to face the draped section of the theatre. We pulled back the curtain to reveal the Act 2 location: the kitchen. The sudden escape into realism playfully references the work back to Chekhov. The kitchen set is meant to do what a good realistic set should: seem real, allow for realistic action, and help establish the social status of the characters.

While the third act seems to be set on the patio or deck of the estate, we took advantage of the two spaces we already had. With a dressing change, the Act 1 area became a study adjacent to the kitchen. Both spaces were used simultaneously.

Process Materials

Production Credits

Directed by Saffron Henke
Costume Design by Melanie Mortimore
Lighting Design by Marly Wooster

Technical Direction by Curtis Mortimore