OBSERVER: The Birds
This production of Daphne du Maurier’s classic, gothic horror The Birds, is craftily adapted for stage by Louise Fox and Director Matthew Lutton.
On each seat is placed a set of headphones to be worn by audience members for the entirety of the show.
Testing instructions are clear and are repeated when the headsets are first put on with the sound clearly audible even for those of us who wear hearing aids.
The audience was transfixed with Paula Arundell’s one woman, opening night performance in the Malthouse Beckett Theatre.
Arundell not only plays Tess, the wife and mother of two young children, she also takes on the voices of her family members and other township folk.
She deftly articulates tone and mood of the dialogue between all characters to drive the story and heighten the tension.
The story-line sees a contemporary family who have escaped the hectic pace of the city after the father has experienced as break-down.
He has become a house-husband able to better care for his children while they all enjoy the quieter pace and safety of a small rural community.
Their longed for peace is gradually ruined by the increasing onslaught of swooping, vicious bird attacks destroying the town and their home sanctuary.
As in Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation, the script is heavily dependent on complementary electronic sound effects.
With headphone surround sound we too have a jarring, realistic sense of constant bird attacks dodging and ducking as we watch this stage performance.
The final moments involve Tess’s family risking a visit to a friend’s family’s house to check on their welfare.
This clever finale provides an even more unnerving but satisfying end to this chilling story.
Venue: Malthouse Beckett Theatre, 113 Sturt St , Southbank
Dates : Until June 7
Times: Mondays 6.30pm Tuesdays- Saturdays 7.30pm
Booking: phone 9685 5111 malthousetheatre.com.au
Review by Sherryn Danaher