Playwright: David Cerda and Pauline Pang. At: Hell in a Handbag Productions, Berger Park, 6205 N. Sheridan Rd. Tickets: 1-800-8383006; www.handbagproductions.org; $19-$35. Runs through: Sept. 15
When it was new, The Birds was pretty scary for a completely silly movie. Tippy Hedren's hair was perfect, Rod Taylor's chest was perfectly hairy, a gas station blew up, children screamed and enough feathers flew to stuff 1,000 pillows.
The characters included a henpecked husband, a chicken-livered police deputy, a pigeon-toed school teacher, an eagle-eyed newspaperwoman, a hawk-nosed fisherman, an owl-eyed librarian, a girl who ate like a wren and a greaser with a DA haircut. Only a dodo could forget.
For this loving parody all those characters are squeezed into the tiny Berger Park Coach House, with Lake Michigan mere yards away echoing the film's fictional seaside setting, Bodega Bay. Hey, not much difference between saltwater and freshwater gulls: no matter how you cook 'em they're no damn good.
Writing good parody is more difficult than it looks and sounds, and co-authors David Cerda and Pauline Pang created a classic with this one in 2001. (This is its third Chicago production.) They respectfully mock the film, and not-so-respectfully mock female stars Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy and Hedren in off-camera scenes interspersed with on-camera scenes. It's hard to tell if art is imitating life or vice versa.
Much of the show is surprisingly earnest, which is a wise way to go for co-directors Jeffrey Shields and Cerda. The company doesn't push for big laughs, so when they come (and they do) they take you by surprise. There's just the correct amount of campiness and exaggeration (meaning not too much) and two songs thrown in as a bonus. Alas, you never see director Alfred Hitchcock in his de rigueur cameo role.
Cerda, who favors brunettes for his drag creations, plays Suzanne Pleshette and her film character, Mrs. Haywood. Drag is serious theatrical business (compared to, say, revue or sketch) requiring focus and characterization and because drag is comedic almost by definition. Less is more is the rule, which Cerda understands to his credit. Indeed, all four drag artists in The Birds understand, so kudos to Hell in a Handbag veterans Steve Kimbrough (Mrs. Bundy) singing the tongue-twisting bird song "Impossible," the always-rock-solid Ed Jones (Jessica Tandy) and Steve Love (kid sister Michelle). Real woman Catherine McCafferty plays Tippi Hedren with diva panache and the right touch of good "bad" acting. Michael John Lea (Rod Taylor) needn't do much except look attractive, and he's very good at it.
The bird flocks and their attacks are achieved largely through clever puppetry and by effective use of the coach house windows/glass doors. The puppetry/effects designers are Lolly Extract (that's her name) and Amber Marsh. Jacob Christopher Green's wig designs alternate intentionally between good, bad and ugly. You'll enjoy The Birds. It's a hoot.