Birds Of North America Reviews

Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended

"...As inviting theatrical titles go, “Birds of North America” is one only an ornithologist could love. But the new show at Red Orchid Theatre turns out to be a gorgeous little 90-minute two-hander, a beautifully acted and directed father-daughter play capable of transporting you away from the frozen tundra and back to when leaves were just beginning to fall and birds still sang from the trees."

Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended

"...The tension is palpable. Onstage, and in many cases in real life, millennials like Caitlyn see careers differently than the generation before us. She is not a “right-winger” in the sense that her father would use the term, but she doesn’t believe she is defined as a person by her career. And, the world she lives in is much more expansive yet offers fewer opportunities than his."

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...In Anna Ouyang Moench’s 2019 play Birds of North America, father John (John Judd) and daughter Caitlyn (Cassidy Slaughter-Mason) count time through seasons of birds, and pass it with the incidental conversations that occur, mostly staring into the distance at something the other can’t see—tufted titmouse, blue grosbeak, dream job, or heart’s desire."

Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended

"...One of the advantages of a small performance space is that, in the right hands, one can set the mood even before the play has begun. In the Chicago premiere of Anna Ouyang Moench’s Birds of North America, the seating area at A Red Orchid Theatre has been reconfigured by set designer Morgan Laszlo so that viewers are in the backyard of a house, crossing the worn deck and passing by a screened in back-porch to get to their seats. On either side of the audience, autumnal foliage peeks over a battered picket fence; in the yard, straggling tomato plants push out the last crop of the year."

Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended

"...John and Caitlyn scan the Autumn skies above their suburban Maryland family home, searching for any new species of birds to add to John’s diary of avian observations. And as they search for the elusive winged creatures, they also search for understanding and a connection between their generations. But children grow up and parents age as our world and the environment keeps changing. Yet in this astonishing play, now in a magnificent and moving production at A Red Orchid Theatre, the bonding over birding brings a father and daughter together in unexpected ways. This is truly a must-see production that theatergoers don’t want to miss."

PicksInSix - Highly Recommended

"...Nestled snugly in their intimate Old Town storefront performance space, A Red Orchid Theatre is lighting a slow, smoldering fire of generational drama with the Chicago Premiere of “Birds of North America” set to warm the coldest of Chicago winter nights."

MaraTapp.org - Highly Recommended

"...As Leo Tolstoy famously said, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The beauty of the father-daughter relationship in Birds of North America is that they and their family fall between these opposites – as do most of us in our familial relationships."

Allie and the After Party - Highly Recommended

"...Set in the backyard of their home in Baltimore, we see a father and daughter's relationship grow and change over the years in Birds of North America. The way the two actors develop their relationship parses out information bit by bit as we learn more and packs an emotional punch each time they hit the emotional bit in each scene."

Werner's Theatre Reviews - Highly Recommended

"...Birds of North America is a tender reflection on how relationships evolve under the pressures of time, difference, and change. With heartfelt performances, thoughtful design, and a script balancing humor with emotional depth, A Red Orchid Theatre delivers a production that feels both intimate and expansive. In a world often feeling divided, this play serves as a reminder of the power of shared passions, difficult conversations, and the enduring bond between parent and child."

NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...“Birds of North America,” now playing in its Chicago premiere at A Red Orchid Theatre, is about both birding and a relationship between a father and daughter over the years. Like love and birdwatching, the script by Anna Ouyang Moench is patient, gradually accumulating weight and resonance until you find yourself misty-eyed watching people you didn’t know ninety minutes ago."