The Birds

by Conor McPherson

A suspenseful, atmospheric adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's enthralling short story. Mysterious masses of birds have begun to violently attack at high tide, driving strangers Nat and Diane to take refuge in an isolated, abandoned house by the sea and form a bond to survive their haunting new circumstance. With no electricity and scarce food, the tension is palpable and hope is waning. Yet if two is company, three is a crowd, as the sudden arrival of a young woman with a mysterious nature of her own ruffles feathers in the house and quickly threatens to destroy their so-called sanctuary. Conor McPherson's adaptation of The Birds premiered at the Gate Theatre, Dublin in September 2009. 'deliciously chilling... spring-loaded with tension' Irish Independent 'McPherson keeps us on the edge of our seat' Irish Times

Genres: Plays, Theatre

75 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 12, 2014

About the author

Conor McPherson is an Irish playwright and director.

Reviews

[elise barber-wixtrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

horrible. five stars.

[Isabel Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw birds flying outside my window after reading this, and it freaked me out big time.

[Sydney]

Not gonna lie, I was pretty bored until the last two scenes and then I was left wanting more.
For a play I think the beginning could have been condensed and then the end could have led to something a little more. The dramatic flow is slim to none until the one pivotal switch, It's as if the inciting incident doesn't really happen until the very end. Overall, not the greatest play I've read but also not the worst.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stage adaptation of the original story, not the Hitchcock film. And therein lies a conundrum. I think the script works quite well and would be an engrossing piece of theater (given a really good sound design), but would audiences come with certain expectations of the story they've seen on screen and then be disappointed? Hard to say. There are maybe a few too many voiceovers, but if done well, they could add to the macabre atmosphere of the story and compliment the show, provided the theater's sound design was up to the task.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the basic premise is the same as the famous Hitchcock film, the characters and storyline are much different, as it goes back to the source material, the du Maurier original short story. With the right sound design (ESSENTIAL, since one never actually sees the titular characters), and the right actors, I am sure this would be highly effective on stage.

[The Aspie Author · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang! This is really good. I read it in theater class. I really liked the characters. Some of my classmates thought some characters were annoying, but I don't understand why. Julia (my fav character) and Diane got a bit annoying when they started fighting over Nat. The interactions that these characters have are perfect and were very fun to read. And I thought it was creative and a bit weird for birds to be the reason for an apocalypse.

[Darnelle Radford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow.

Interesting turn of events. I didn't see that coming at all. What an intense box they were in. So many questions. Such a good read.