A few thoughts on Conor McPherson’s The Birds
I won’t discuss here the play itself (I’ll probably do it later) but the way it was received and talked about by some reviewers, especially on the RTÉ show of October 27.
The most upsetting characteristic of these discussions was that the guests of the show (as did many reviewers and bloggers) talked about what they wanted to see, what they probably expected to see and NEVER what they had really seen.
One of the words that occurred most frequently in the discussion on RTÉ, was “scary” as if they wanted to attend some Halloween horror show. We are so used to see gore and disaster movies that we are becoming unsensitive to mere suggestion. Maybe some of the persons there would have liked to see Ciarán Hinds come on stage covered in blood. Anyway, although inspired by Du Maurier’s short story and Hitchcock’s film (and not “based on”) The Birds had other issues. The birds and the end-of-the-world context were only there as a setting for a philosophical, religious and moral reflection (we must not forget that McPherson studied philosophy at U.C.D -University College Dublin-). What becomes of individuals when their survival is at stake and when they have lost their bearings?
The result of these unfulfilled expectations is that, in spite of a packed theatre every night and the general satisfaction of the average audience, most of the reviews are not that good and that there is every likelihood that the play won’t go to London or Broadway after its Dublin run.