BIRDS OF A FEATHER is about a time-travelling geneticist journeying one hundred years into the past. His mission? To save the passenger pigeon. Unfolding in the cross-hairs of two unlikely bedfellows - the early American conservation movement and the New Woman/suffragist struggle – add social satire, slapstick humor and an eccentric family of radical New York women (circa 1912), and the result is a screwball comedic love story with a fantastical modern twist (think “Bringing Up Baby” meets “Doctor Who”). Evoking laughter on “mode de jour” (fashions of the day) and women’s changing roles over the past century, BIRDS OF A FEATHER also provokes reflection on the nature of progress and the state of our country’s disappearing species
Cast:
AP WELLS: 21st Century scientist/genius in his 30s with a quirky sense of humor and fascination for toys, magic, and mysteries. A bit of a Casanova. Suffers from sciurophobia (fear of squirrels).
DIANA KATHERINE BIRDWHISTLE: Early 20th Century New York fashionista magazine columnist with a rapier wit and razor-sharp intellect. Oldest daughter (in her 20s) of distinguished family. An observer of wildlife (all varieties).
LADY BIRDWHISTLE: Grand dame descended from early American settlers. Married to explorer Lord Alistair Birdwhistle; mother of Diana and Bessie. Afflicted with the linguistic challenge of pleonasm and malapropism.
ELIZABETH (BESSIE) BIRDWHISTLE: Diana’s younger sister. A do-gooder passionately in search of a cause.
ROSE GOLD (née GOLDMAN): Turn-of-the-century Russian Jewish immigrant seeking her own path to the American Dream.
GEORGE: A ghost as well as the Birdwhistle family’s butler.
Note: The author recommends the fantastical characters (mutant squirrels, Kewpie dolls, etc.) appearing in the dream sequences of the play be played by the actors performing the roles above.