Birdsong - by James Saunders (1979)Written for the Richmond fringe and first performed by them at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond (Surrey, England), on 5 August 1979. The cast was as follows -
© 1980 James Saunders published by Amber Lane (Ashover, Derbyshire, England), 1980 (Savoury Meringue and other plays - James Saunders) ISBN-10: 0906399122 ISBN-13: 978-0906399125 also contains Savoury Meringue + Who Was Hilary Maconochie? + Play for Yesterday + Poor Old Simon "Wing And A Prayer's canter through the forgotten shorter plays of James Saunders continues with a hybrid of Waiting For Godot with feathers and Gary Larson's 'what we say/what our pets hear' cartoon. The "songs" of Tinker and Joey (Robert Murrey and Larry Waller) are in fact philosophical dialogues of Wittgensteinian complexity, as they fuss about their cage – up and down the little ladder, ringing the little bell, bemoaning the scarcity of cuttlefish, checking their plumage in the little mirror (but their plumage consists of institutional smocks, for added though vague psychological ambiguity). Into their cage is thrust voluble dissident Trixie (Rebekah Janes), whose insistent squawks for freedom both disrupt the aimless but pleasant twittering of the others and threaten the pecking order." - Ian Shuttleworth (City Limits) review of Birdsong, Café Theatre, London WC2 - opened 30 June, 1992 |
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