‘The Birds’ Flies High For Genesius Guild
The summer is passing quickly and the Genesius Guild finishes their summer schedule with “the Birds” by Aristophanes. This play was written 2430 years ago in Athens. In this play, two protagonists are fed up with the media-driven ways of human life and society. They tire of politics. They grow weary of the rules and struggles for power. They desire a whole entire new life. As as result of this want, the two men decide that they are finished with the ground and shall forever live among the birds. Ironically, they introduce these very human behaviors and beliefs to the sky.
The play has been altered slightly throughout time to adapt to the current events. This performance was no different. From Trump jokes to local mentions, such as the Rock Island Country Courthouse, this performance displayed much of the expected satires that go along with comedy and the history of it.
The custuming was colorful and playful. The very-in-sync singing birds were adorable. Spoken of as the “choir”, these girls were dancing in unison and smiling beautifully as they did so. They spoke in such a perfect harmony, that I was impressed by this ability and eager to take many pictures each time they took the stage.
My favorite character was the Goddess, Isis. She came out in this cute dress with adorable antennae on her head. She spoke in a west coast accent. But when she was made to know the plans of our protagonist to take over everything, she flipped out and bellowed as a Goddess or God should and would in this situation. I laughed pretty hard! At the end, when they were “flying” around, a Pikachu Pokemon jumped out of nowhere and everyone laughed! It was a great show!
The Genesius Guild is only made possible by the many volunteers who come together to make it happen. They work hard to bring free theatre to our Quad-Cities. I would like to thank them for their continued personal sacrifice to contribute to our communities this wonderful display of culture. They indeed take donations and one can add them to Facebook to easily follow their many amazing and hilarious performances. They can be found at www.Facebook.com/GenesiusGuild and www.Genesius.org as well.
