Stupid Fucking Bird
by Aaron Posner
Sort of adapted from The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
November 28 - December 2, 2023
Directed by Christopher Brauer
Scenic, Lighting & Projection Design Adam Parboosingh
Costume Design Anika Binding
Stage Manager Gracie Lindblom
performed by 4th Year Honours Acting Class
Technical & Design support by Senior & Junior Production & Design students
ACTF Theatre, 400 Colony Street (enter off Balmoral)
Free admission
ONLINE TICKET RESERVATIONS THROUGH OUR NEW SYSTEM HERE or call our 24-hour reservation line 204-786-9152. (Please note: same-day reservations close at 5 pm each day; tickets may be available at the door.)
Chekhov like you’ve never seen him before. This bold, mischievous and provocative take on The Seagull drops us into a cabin on a lake where an aspiring young theatre creator struggles to get out from under the shadow of his mother, a famous actress. Meanwhile, his young muse falls for his mother’s lover, and everyone discovers just how disappointing love, art, and growing up can be. In this contemporary riff on Chekhov’s The Seagull, Aaron Posner skillfully remixes the renowned “subtext” of the classic play into exuberant and hysterical scenes and songs.
"Stupid Fucking Bird, like The Seagull, is mostly about love, art, hope, and disappointment,” said award-winning playwright Aaron Posner. “It pits passionate dreams of ideal love and artistic success against the simple hard realities of quotidian life. It's been fascinating to explore The Seagull—a play I truly love and, in some odd ways, loathe—to find my own resonances and rebellions within it. What has emerged, I hope, in this rough-and-tumble, meta-theatrical mash-up, is a deliberately unfaithful re-imagining that I hope will challenge, amaze, engage, and delight."
The University of Winnipeg’s production features performances by the fourth-year Honours Acting class, and all technical work is done by both junior and senior production students, supervised by UWinnipeg staff and faculty.
Stupid Fucking Bird runs Tuesday, November 28 through Saturday, December 2 at 7:30 pm each evening at the Asper Centre for Theatre and Film (400 Colony – entrance off Balmoral St). Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. Please call the 24-hour Reservation Line at 204.786.9152 or use our new online booking form. Please note: Same-day reservations close at 5 pm each day. Reservations made after 5 pm for the same night may not be included in the list.
Content warning: The performance includes mature themes, sexuality, suicidal ideation, and loss of a child, as well as loud noises including gunshots.