Secrets of the Birds

by Lynda Crawford

Full length. In the hours before the seer Tiresias is summoned to tell Oedipus who killed the former king (a disclosure that rains tragedy on Oedipus and his entire family), Tiresias’s lover, Ameinius, fearful for his partner’s life, tries to keep him from going with a charade that ends up tearing them apart. A prequel to the Oedipus trilogy.

Full length. In the hours before the seer Tiresias is summoned to tell Oedipus who killed the former king (a disclosure that rains tragedy on Oedipus and his entire family), Tiresias’s lover, Ameinius, fearful for his partner’s life, tries to keep him from going with a charade that ends up tearing them apart. A prequel to the Oedipus trilogy.

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Secrets of the Birds

Recommended by

  • Emma Bilderback: Secrets of the Birds by Lynda Crawford
    “

    This piece is a heartfelt alternative canon to Sophocles and Aeschylus. It deals with modern themes of migration, xenophobia, and queerness in a way that feels organic within the world that has been created, while still being a recognizably ancient world.

    This piece is a heartfelt alternative canon to Sophocles and Aeschylus. It deals with modern themes of migration, xenophobia, and queerness in a way that feels organic within the world that has been created, while still being a recognizably ancient world.

    ”
Characters (6 actors: 4 male, 2 female)

CREON Brother-in-law to Oedipus, King of Thebes
KORESH Male, enslaved foreign laborer, and a chorus of sorts
TIRESIAS Male, blind seer, 40’s–70’s
AMEINIUS Male, Tiresias’s young lover, 20’s–30’s, outspoken, rash
THEADOSIA Female, on pilgrimage, 50’s–80’s
XENIA/O* Female/nonbinary twins, healers, eager for love

GUARDS In service to the king, doubled by Theadosia and Xenia/o
CHORUS OF HUMANITY All but Tiresias and Ameinius become part of CHORUS OF HUMANITY at the end.

*Note 1: XENIA and XENIO, played by the same actor, distinguish themselves from each other in small movements and vocally.

Development History

  • Reading, Actors Studio Playwrights & Directors Unit, 2024
  • Reading, HB Playwrights Forum, 2022
  • Reading, HB Playwrights Forum, 2021

Awards

  • Samuel French Short Play Competition [20-minute version of the piece that I've since expanded to full length]
    Samuel French
    Finalist
    2006