Theatre department drops f-bombs Course cancellation on agenda

A play with a racy title is a contemporary take on Anton Chekhov's 'The Seagull'

ANNA CLARK Reporter @AnnaClarkReport

Aname of a play doesn’t make a show, but it certainly can bring attention to it.

Last semester, the Pierce College Theatre Department’s “Bad Jews” caused controversy, yet the show sold out its entire run.

This semester, Pierce is at it again, but this time, the obscenities are more apparent.

The Theatre Department chose the comedic play “Stupid F****** Bird,” a metatheatrical play by Aaron Posner, based on “The Seagull” by Anton Chekhov.

The contemporary piece, which was written in 2013, had been eyed by the Theatre Department since its release, according to theater manager Michael Sande.

"It is a play that we had been looking at since it premiered,” Sande said. “As soon as the rights became available for us, we said we definitely wanted that.”

According to Sande, the explicit title will not affect ticket sales.

"We've done many plays in which the f-word is used,” Sande said. “We've had full frontal nudity on stage before. You can't please everybody, and there will be a few that will be offended by this title and won't buy it. It's not going to be everyone's favorite show, but I think by and large, especially with a student audience base, we just kind of knew." One reason for choosing the play, according to Sande, was because of its ties to Chekhov.

"Because it is a take of Anton Chekhov's “The Seagull,” it allows our students to have accessibility to someone like Anton Chekhov, who is a very complicated playwright. His plays are classic and older, but the theme is the same,” Sande said. “That's specifically what we were looking for."

According to director Anthony Cantrell, the play is about using art to create change in the world.

“It is a huge debate,” Cantrell said. “Our play is about that because even the characters in the play do not agree. I do feel art has that transformative potential, so I wanted to see how I might dig into that debate with this particular play.”

Though the play discusses the question of art’s place in the world, it also includes love triangles within the plot.