10 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
RATTLING
CAGES
Astor Street Opry
Company stages Daphne
du Maurier’s ‘The Birds’
By PATTY HARDIN
FOR COAST WEEKEND
M
embers of the Astor Street Opry Compa-
ny will offer theatergoers a chilling ex-
perience beginning Friday, Oct. 6, when
they present “The Birds,” adapted for the stage by
Conor McPherson.
“The Birds” came to life in a short story by
Daphne du Maurier that became the basis for Alfred
Hitchcock’s classic fi lm.
Most people are familiar with “The Birds”
because of Hitchcock, but fi lm and play bear little
resemblance to each other. “The fi lm was Hol-
lywood-ized,” Sheila Shaffer, the director of the
Astoria production, said.
The Dramatist Play Service described McPher-
son’s adaptation as a “gripping, unsettling, and
moving look at human relationships in the face of
societal collapse.”
Two strangers, Nat and Diane, enter an isolated
house hoping to escape a mass of attacking birds.
Nat and Diane fi nd no peace and little comfort.
There is no electricity in the house and not much
food. Adding to their discomfort is the possibility
that a nearby neighbor is still alive and may be
watching them.
CAST
Brandon Hurd — “Nat”
Barbi England — “Diane”
Stacey Brown — “Julia”
Justin Germond — “Tierney”
PHOTO BY COLIN MURPHEY
Brandon Hurd, left, and Barbi England, right, run
through a dramatic scene during a rehearsal of
“The Birds” at the Astor Street Opry Company.