←Recommendations of The Day I Turned Into A Bird

A lyrical and melancholy meditation on one of the great paradoxes; that the very things that make us human - our intellect, our rationality, our ambitions - are the things that screw up our ability to make human connections. Vividly theatrical - each of the three roles is an actor's dream, in either human or animal form.

Dave Osmundsen's beautiful storytelling brings us to ask how much we rob ourselves of the ability to feel by overthinking. "Less thinking - More Feeling". When her father asks her to wish upon a star and Kim starts to think too much, unable to even choose a star to wish upon, it resonated with me. Our fears and "limiting editor" hold us back from what could be the most profound experiences. Looking forward to its further development and continued productions! Congratulations!

When we dream, when we imagine, where do we go? What do we become? The line between reality and fantasy becomes wider, perhaps even an abyss that we cannot cross without a leap of faith. In this lyrical and imaginative play, Dave Osmundsen gives us a transformative lesson in showing how wishes and hopes -- and fears -- can become real. At the same time he teaches us the danger of staying grounded, literally and figuratively. This is a truly transcendent story.

Whether it’s Aesop or Kafka or Osmundsen, fables hold up a funhouse mirror to life, making large the lesson, and minimizing (yet never losing) what’s not central to the point. Passions run high and literally take flight, yet there is a great deal of agony when cognition wars with emotion. Osmundsen elegantly blends realistic family and social dynamics with mythological circumstances, forcing characters to choose priorities both internally and interpersonally. Told through a child’s POV, it captures great heartache, and the play and its characters soar!

This lovely, lyrical fantasy is full of life and longing, and may be one of Osmundsen's lightest, yet most deeply felt works. It doesn't just fly, it soars.

A lovely, vivid and highly theatrical adaptation. Really strong, impassioned writing. Bravo Dave!

My cursory research into the Aimee Bender original shows that Osmundsen's evocative, lovely play has many original elements. Here a whole family metamorphoses at some point into other animal species, and the play questions what it is about seagulls, apes, salamanders, fish, etc. that so fascinates people that we'd want to abandon our human nature to become other forms of animal life. Are the changes experienced by Kim and her parents magically real, or just metaphorical? Either way, better not to analyze too much but instead just to experience the often surprising transformations the author has in store.