May 2019

In Spring of 2019, I directed, produced, and graphic designed a production of Stupid Fucking Bird by Aaron Posner, a meta-theatrical adaption of Chekhov’s The Seagull. Months after the Stanford Theater Department's production of The Seagull, this production was in direct conversation with the play on which it was based. 

 

Our show was particularly successful in its creative use of the unconventional performance space, as the first theatrical production in Oshman Hall - an indoor/outdoor classroom in the arts district of campus, featuring a massive, clear garage door. The garage door was open at the beginning of our production and closed during a pivotal shift in the play. We also experimented with different lighting effects and staging that took advantage of the McMurtry lawn. This creativity perfectly paralleled many of the themes in the play itself. 

 

I believe this project was extremely successful in its goal of promoting new forms of art/theater on campus. To quote part of my director’s note, “SFB, an irreverent homage to Chekhov’s classic, demands a re-examination of ‘the theater.’ By setting this play in the very direct here and now, I hope to provoke meaningful conversations and questions about the purpose of art (specifically theater) on Stanford’s campus [...] with the limited years we have at Stanford, I encourage all of you to rethink what is possible. To take risks, to explore, and to push limits and conventions in a never-ending attempt to find the power, purpose, and potential of art.” I believe this show deeply affected audience members and provoked questions about love, life, and the purpose of art.