Attack of the Byrds!

Sun. Aug. 10, 2025 at 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Attack of the Byrds! a verse play by Gary Duehr adapted from “The Birds” by Aristophanes, will be presented as a reading on Sunday, August 10, from 3-4:30.

The reading is free and open to the public. The reading features original songs by Jane Burgess Harcourt, sung by Suzanne Boucher and accompanied by Peter Hoffman on guitar.

This version mashes up the classic Greek comedy with “The Birds” by Hitchcock and songs inspired by the ’60s band the Byrds. In rhymed tetrameter couplets, the brisk verse punches up its wordplay. This adaptation uses the masks and puppets of a traveling theater troupe to tell the fantasy infused with political satire.

“Attack of the Byrds!” follows two Athenians, Souvlaki and Moussaka, who set out in search of a simpler life. They persuade the race of birds to create Cloudcuckooland and take control of the air, intercepting all traffic between men and gods. No sooner are the city walls built than the Athenians are barraged by the same agents of bureaucracy they are trying to escape, as well as Olympian gods unhappy at being extorted by the birds. Eventually, Souvlaki is miraculously transformed into a bird-like god himself, and he replaces Zeus as the ruler of the cosmos.

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