By Sandi Masori in La Jolla, California
“Notice what you see before you rush to ID, because if you rush to ID, you miss the details,” is the advice given to the birdwatchers in La Jolla Playhouse’s newest show A Black-billed Cuckoo.
It’s a cute play, (though some may object to my using the word “cute” as it does have some poignant messages), and a well-spent 80 minutes. Written by UCSD MFA playwright Mat Smart as part of the La Jolla Playhouse’s DNA New Work program, it marks the 13th play to make the transition from DNA into the regular season offerings.
The scene opens with a group of bird watchers in a park in New York who are… watching birds. A new bird watcher, Sadie (Jo Garcia-Reger) has joined the group, and the veterans are delighting in showing her the ropes. The regular crew made up of leader Marje (Sally Wingert), Tessa (Jennifer Naimo), Ruth (Jeanine Serralles), and Ed (Samuel Stricken) have been hanging around together for at least three years.
Ed especially takes her under his wing (you see what I did there) to school her in the art of birdwatching.
Tessa annoys the others because she is obsessed with taking photos of the birds and can’t seem to just enjoy watching them for the sake of watching. Ruth is especially annoyed by her.
Just as they are about to leave, Tessa starts taking a whole bunch of pictures but won’t tell the others what bird it is. Marje, whose group motto is “we share our eyes, we share our ears” gets upset that Tessa isn’t sharing her discovery and finally tries to follow her sightline to see what she’s so excited about. Seeing that it’s the rare Black-billed Cuckoo she gets excited and calls everyone back.
For all of them it’s a lifebird (that’s bird watching jargon for the first time you see a species). But Ruth, who most wanted to see a Black-billed Cuckoo misses it and determines that she will spend the night in the park and not leave until she sees one. Her outrage seems out of place and exaggerated until the audience learns what and why it means so much to her.
By the bye, we also learn that there are some secret relationships in the group, and though they have been bird watching together for several years, they really don’t know very much about each other. As they explore why Ruth was so upset, they learn a lot about each other and themselves.
The set by scenic designer Wilson Chin is well done- it’s a fixed set of a New York park square. The lighting by Philip Rosenberg lets us know what part of the day or night it is and adds to the ambiance while the soundscape by Bobby McElver really brings it home.
The acting is superb. The entire ensemble does a great job. And what a voice Garcia-Reger has! Talk about songbirds! She does an acapella song, and her voice is so beautiful, I was really sad that the play wasn’t a musical- I wanted more!
The play is serious, but also has a pretty good LPM ratio (laughs per minute). It’s sweet and heartwarming, and I think you’ll like it, I know I did.
A Black-billed Cuckoo plays through October 11.
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Associate Editor Sandi Masori is a theater and food reviewer for San Diego Jewish World.