Belltable Unfringed Festival: 'For the Birds'

The first rehearsed reading of Unfringed was on Thursday at Cecil Street. Just in case you’re wondering, a rehearsed reading is basically actors reading aloud from the script. While they’re acting in terms of their voices, in many cases they don’t move around. ‘For the Birds’ is a collaboration between two writers-Siobhan Donnellan (Irish) and Jen Browne (American). Both of them took part in the reading, playing the two main characters.

The story is that one woman has given a child up for adoption and meets up with the adoptive mother 22 years later with the idea of making contact with her son. The play deals with her doomed love story as the lines blurred between a nurse/patient relationship, the unhappy marriage of the couple who adopted her son and the boy’s upbringing and life. They're opposites but with the same aim-finding a lost child. The play had a very sad conclusion but it was still somewhat uplifting, perhaps because of the strength of character radiating from the women themselves. There was an authentic humanity about them and the situation.

While it was odd to hear someone reading the stage directions, it wasn’t hard to follow and the actors all seemed very relaxed and in tune with it. It was a lovely piece, not least in the writing, which was very lyrical without being maudlin or sentimental. The theme of birds and flight was gently woven into the fabric of the play and added to character development and imagery.

The Q&A session afterwards was very interesting and several audience members suggested fleshing out the male characters more (I approve) and discussed how the staging might be in its full form. Interestingly, the playwrights both wrote their parts independently on different continents but the play comes together so organically I don’t think anyone would have known if it hadn’t been referred to.

Overall, ‘For the Birds’ hit the mark perfectly for a reading in that it made you want to see a fully-fledged version. To say it left the audience wanting more is an understatement; people suggested that it should be a fair bit longer. Either way, I think a finished production of it will really be one to watch.