5 days ago
A haunting new adaptation of 'The Birds' lands at Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre
It's been more than 70 years since Daphne du Maurier wrote The Birds, the gothic short story that famously inspired Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film of the same name. Decades later, it remains one of the most unsettling tales ever told. Now, Malthouse Theatre is bringing this classic thriller to the stage in a bold new form: a reimagined one-woman show starring Paula Arundell (Three Furies, Antony and Cleopatra, Henry V).
Adapted by Louise Fox and directed by former Malthouse artistic director Matthew Lutton (Picnic at Hanging Rock), the new production blends psychological horror with cutting-edge audio technology to create a truly immersive experience. As the theatre darkens and you don a pair of headphones, prepare for your pulse to race.
The stunning sound design by J. David Franzke uses binaural sound – a 360-degree audio technique – to drag you into the haunting tale where a coastal town is under supernatural siege from a flock of birds. Arundell performs with tiny microphones in her ears, capturing every whisper, gasp, flap, screech and swoop as though it is terrifyingly close.
