PHOTO: John (Allan Whitehead) helps daughter Caitlyn (Elaitheia Quinn) spot a bird in "Birds of North America," onstage at Theater on the Edge. (Courtesy Theater on the Edge)
"Its beauty is in how it shows all of us the power of communication" - by Matt Palm
Our latest review is in for BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA! Click the link below to read the full review...
Critic’s Pick: ‘Birds of North America’ takes wing with emotional clarity | Review
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Critic’s Pick: ‘Birds of North America’ takes wing with emotional clarity | Review
By Matt Palm
After nearly three years, Theater on the Edge is back — and thankfully much seems as it was before. Marco and Samantha DiGeorge still offer friendly greetings at the door, the small auditorium still makes every theatergoers feel like a VIP, and the attention to detail in the design elements still delights.
Thankfully, the theater’s penchant for finding plays that speak about humanity — and then casting them with actors who can say more than the words on the page — is still intact, too. Such is the case with “Birds of North America,” Anna Ouyang Moench’s look at a father-daughter dynamic throught the years and what their hopes, dreams, failures and successes say about all of us.
John is an aging liberal, a doctor who has devoted his life to working on medical advancements while his wife supported the family. When we meet daughter Caitlyn, she has a new boyfriend named Blaze, is partway through writing a novel and has a job at a conservative news site of which her father strongly disapproves.
Each scene of the play moves forward a year in time to another birdwatching meetup for the two, and the audience sees how their relationship changes, frays and adapts to new realities. Although the story is about John and Caitlyn specifically, its beauty is in how it shows all of us the power of communication, and how life’s curveballs can change the way we relate to one another.
Their characters’ inner turmoil registers on the faces and in the body language of actors Elaitheia Quinn and Allan Whitehead in Theater on the Edge’s production of “Birds of North America.” (Courtesy Theater on the Edge)
Director Marco DiGeorge has done superior work in making monologues feel natural , and his actors — both Theater on the Edge veterans — make you see the weight of their struggles on their faces and in their posture. They visibly age in front of our eyes, with Elaitheia Quinn’s Caitlyn getting an assist from Samantha DiGeorge’s costuming.
Quinn’s voice ages with her character, as well — chattering as a youth, weary as time marches on. And she wisely doesn’t seethe with frustration, she seems tortured by it, especially in a painfully moving scene where she details a very personal medical experience to her father, who as usual, is at a loss for the right thing to say or do.
John is played by Allan Whitehead with a volatility that you come to realize is an expression of his frustration — with his own choices, with the state of the world, with his inability to meaningfully connect. The dialogue Moench gives his character gets a bit repetitious in the play’s middle, but Whitehead finds something fresh in his rants. And he always indicates an affection for his onstage daughter, which make his clumsy self-sabotage even more poignant.
Only one scene doesn’t ring quite true: In a tricky moment involving the harshest words of the play and an act of violence, the characters’ motives and reactions aren’t clear enough. But that misstep can’t negate the beautiful emotional clarity running through the rest of the play.
In a scene from Theater on the Edge’s production of “Birds of North America,” Caitlyn (Elaitheia Quinn) makes a point, but will her father (Allan Whitehead) hear it? (Courtesy Theater on the Edge)
Samantha DiGeorge’s scenic design, a smallish back patio, suits the claustrophobic nature of the story: Two people trying to broaden their connection but trapped in the same old patterns. And Marco DiGeorge’s sound design becomes its own character, as the various birds heard sound warnings or break the tension or reassure that life goes on.
“Birds of North America” is an engrossing re-introduction (or, for some, an introduction) to Theater on the Edge and its vivid style. Don’t miss this most welcome return.
‘Birds of North America’
- Where: Theater on the Edge, 5542 Hansel Ave. in Edgewood
- When: Through May 18
- Cost: $22-$34
- Info: theaterontheedge.org
