The Hub Theatre’s “Birds of a Feather” proves conclusively that truth is stranger than fiction. It also suggests that when you compare man and beast, homo sapiens is sometimes more than a little deficient in the “sapiens” area and more insensitive than so-called less “developed” animals. Marc Acito’s play weaves together two New York City stories that took place at roughly the same time. In 1998, zookeepers at the Central Park Zoo noticed that two chinstrap penguins, Roy and Silo, had created a nest, put a rock in it, and were trying to “hatch” the rock.
Since the penguins were both male and couldn’t create an egg, when zookeepers found an egg whose mother couldn’t care for it, they gave it to Roy and Silo, who lovingly nurtured and hatched it. Their chick grew up and was called Tango.
| Onstage |
| ‘Birds of a Feather’ |
| Where: The Hub Theatre, John Swayze Theatre, 9431 Silver King Court, Fairfax |
| When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 7 |
| Info: $15 to $25; 703-674-3177, thehubtheatre.org |
Roy and Silo were still a couple in 2004, when another extraordinary event occurred. Ever since 1993, a red-tailed hawk named Pale Male had been making his home in an elegant apartment building at 927 Fifth Ave., sharing a nest above the 12th floor with several mates until he met Lola, with whom he raised many chicks.
In 2004, the owners of the apartment dismantled the nest, raising an uproar among birdwatchers who adored the hawks. “Birds of a Feather” describes the lives of Pale Male and Lola in the happy days before the nest’s dismantling and also in its aftermath.
Under Shirley Sherotsky’s direction, Dan Crane plays Silo as the skeptical, analytical partner in the Silo/Roy team. Crane has all the right penguin moves and is hilarious in his intellectualized view of penguin life, using words like “bifurcate” and “hegemonic.” Matt Dewberry is Silo’s polar opposite. His Roy is a simple, cockeyed optimist, irrepressible romantic and lover of show tunes.
In the hawk story, Crane plays Lola as sweet, sensitive and devoted to her man. Dewberry is delightful as the proud Pale Male, who adores attention although he pretends to hate it: he preens and puffs up his feathers for the paparazzi below.
Jjana Valentiner excels in the roles of the zookeeper and Paula Zahn. Eric Messner is engaging as he Birder and Paula Zahn’s husband.
“Birds of a Feather” focuses on love, fidelity, homosexuality, heterosexuality, parenting and determination. It never gets pedantic or preachy about any of those topics. The only element of this show that gets longwinded has to do with Paula Zahn’s spat with her husband. Some of that is necessary, but who needs so much information about egotistical humans when the birds are so fascinating?
