A Red Orchid Theatre’s “Birds of North America,” with John Judd and Cassidy Slaughter-Mason/Photo: Evan Hanover
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Like love, birdwatching requires patience. You must spend time watching, waiting, listening, searching for clues, building a language of understanding with your companion (“tufted titmouse, four o’clock, blue spruce”). The victories accumulate slowly, like the listing of rare sightings in a waterproof notebook. It can’t be rushed.
“Birds of North America,” now playing in its Chicago premiere at A Red Orchid Theatre, is about both birding and a relationship between a father and daughter over the years. Like love and birdwatching, the script by Anna Ouyang Moench is patient, gradually accumulating weight and resonance until you find yourself misty-eyed watching people you didn’t know ninety minutes ago.
The dad, played by the amazing Red Orchid veteran John Judd, is a medical researcher—a dry, laconic fellow, precise and factual, cataloguing birds in his old red book. His daughter Caitlyn (Cassidy Slaughter-Mason) is the opposite—emotional and outspoken, sometimes vague, willing to challenge her father’s assumptions, and mimic a relative she doesn’t like.
Dad is teaching Caitlyn how to watch birds in their Maryland backyard. They notice how the climate is changing, with some birds not coming around anymore. They also see their own widening divisions. Dad is a staunch liberal, so worried about his carbon footprint that he won’t take a European vacation with his beloved wife, a doctor who has been the family breadwinner. Caitlyn, at first an aspiring novelist, has fallen into jobs that pay the bills but don’t match her dad’s ideals, such as shilling for the gas and oil industry.
A Red Orchid Theatre’s “Birds of North America,” with John Judd and Cassidy Slaughter-Mason/Photo: Evan Hanover
Since they’re family, they know how to hurt each other. Dad wounds through his disapproval, insensitivity and coldness, while Caitlyn favors direct assaults. Yet they still try to connect.
At first, Slaughter-Mason seemed overly loud and “actor-y” compared to the restrained Judd. But it becomes clear that this is part of Caitlyn’s character arc. She’s a young woman who starts out boisterous and is gradually smacked down and softened by life’s disappointments.
The third star in this production is the magical set and sound design. In Red Orchid’s tiny theater, scene designer Morgan Laszlo has created a marvelous environment of a backyard in October, with branches of red maple trees coming over the fence and the last of the tomatoes clinging to yellowed vines. Ethan Korvne created a mix of bird songs and original music that sound around the small space, bringing the audience totally into the characters’ world.
In lesser hands, this play could have been dull or maudlin. It could have leaned too hard on the conflicts and amped up the emotional volume. But under the direction of Red Orchid ensemble member Kirsten Fitzgerald, the script and the actors have room to breathe. You feel like you’re eavesdropping on something both ordinary and excruciatingly intimate. Nothing felt manipulative or cheaply sentimental. Emotion is earned. I saw tears in the eyes of many audience members by the end. Maybe a few of them called their parents after they got home.
“Birds of North America” runs at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 North Wells, through March 8. Tickets are $55-$61, available at aredorchidtheatre.org or by calling (312)943-8722.
