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A scene from La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s world-premiere play \u201cA Black-billed Cuckoo.\u201d (Rich Soublet II)<\/p>\nIn Mat Smart\u2019s sweet and touching new play \u201cThe Black-billed Cuckoo,\u201d a novice member of a Brooklyn bird-watching group is encouraged by a veteran member to slow down and take her time whenever she spots a new bird. \u201cSoak it in. Enjoy it,\u201d he says. Don\u2019t worry about identifying the species right away.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a central theme in the 90-minute comedy-drama that opened in its world premiere Saturday at La Jolla Playhouse. For 20 years, the devoted members of the Prospect Heights birding group have collectively enjoyed ticking off sightings of sapsuckers, towhees, waterthrushes, robins and more in their twice-weekly outings.<\/p>\n
But they\u2019ve never taken the time to turn their bincolulars on each other to really see and understand one another.<\/p>\n
Like the mysterious birds camouflaged in the park\u2019s trees, the human characters\u2019 untold backstories are teased out gradually with humor and subtlety by Smart and director Shelley Butler, culminating in an unexpected and moving conclusion that left me in tears.<\/p>\n
The play takes place over 24 hours in Prospect Park. As the club makes its usual rounds, one member, Tessa, spots a very rare black-billed cuckoo in a nearby tree and begins taking photos without following the club rule of sharing her find. A few members do manage to see the elusive bird before it flies away, but not four-year member Ruth, who dissolves in a tearful meltdown.<\/p>\n
Ruth\u2019s late husband, Martin, was an avid club member, and had seen a black-billed cuckoo for the first time just hours before he died at age 52 five years earlier. Ruth\u2019s goal since joining the group after his death has been to see that same bird, but it proved elusive. Missing that first chance on this day sends her into a self-destructive tailspin.<\/p>\n
Over the next 24 hours, Ruth\u2019s club members step up to console and support her in ways kind and selfless, while revealing their own vulnerabilities, losses, secrets and dreams. The revelations are so delightful, funny and surprising that I won\u2019t reveal any more because it\u2019s best experienced in person.<\/p>\n
A scene from La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s world-premiere play \u201cA Black-billed Cuckoo.\u201d (Rich Soublet II)<\/p>\n
As Ruth, Jeanine Serralles is a coiled bundle of acidic fury, so pent-up with grief and anger that she doesn\u2019t trust anyone, even her well-meaning adult daughter, Sadie, who joined the group three weeks before in hopes of breaking through her mother\u2019s emotional wall.<\/p>\n
As real estate agent Sadie, Jo Garcia-Reger is wounded, gentle and authentic, and she has a lovely a cappella singing voice, performing the old Irish folk song \u201cThe Cuckoo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel Stricklen is a comic standout as Ed, the group\u2019s most affable and exuberant member who relishes sharing \u201cthe gospel\u201d of birding with newbies. Stricklen\u2019s quirkiness and spontaneity is fun to watch, and his transformation near the end of the play is fun.<\/p>\n
As birding group leader Marje, Sally Wingert takes her character on a wine-soaked journey, from gruff and controlling to warm and maternal.<\/p>\n
And as the cuckoo-spotter Tessa, Jennifer Naimo gradually peels away the layers of her character, who is at first selfish, but then becomes the self-sacrificing changemaker who helps Ruth become unstuck from her grief.<\/p>\n
David I. Reynoso designed the costumes, which become more richly colored and layered as the characters\u2019 inner selves are revealed. Bobby McElver designed the surround-sound aural landscape of the park, where bird calls move around the theater as the never-seen birds fly past.<\/p>\n
Wilson Chin designed the park bench and tree scenery.\u00a0Philip Rosenberg designed lighting and Animal Cracker Conspiracy did puppet design.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Black-billed Cuckoo\u201d is the 13th play to make the jump from the Playhouse\u2019s DNA New Work Series to a full production. It\u2019s a gentle and rewarding play about friendship, found family and starting over.<\/p>\n
\u2018A Black-billed Cuckoo\u2019<\/p>\n
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 1 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through Oct. 11.<\/p>\n
Where: La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s Mandell Weiss Forum, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, UC San Diego, La Jolla<\/p>\n
Tickets: $30-$69<\/p>\n
Phone: 858-550-1010<\/p>\n