The Wooster Group To You, The Birdie! (Phadre)

"Exhilarating...inspired."
--New York Times

The Wooster Group's latest production riotously retools Racine's classic with furious games of courtly romance...and badminton. "This blend of ironic seriousness, heightened theatricality and multimedia ballet has developed into one of the sharpest of theatrical instruments...an ideal scalpel for Racine's surgical exploration into lust."--Village Voice

"An astonishing invention and completely, utterly nuts. If it weren't so nuts, it wouldn't be so astonishing."--New York Observer


The critics have enthusiastically praised To You, The Birdie! (Phadre), The Wooster Group's reworking of Racine's classic tragedy of doomed love among the royals at court in ancient Greece.

The title To You, The Birdie! (Phadre) is a jump-cut allusion to courtly contests of badminton that were au courant when Racine's drama first debuted in Paris. Played out by members of the Wooster Group on stage, these fierce volleys echo the wicked gamesmanship in love and politics that revolve around the helplessly forlorn Phadre.

Kate Valk's portrayal of the romantically tormented basket case of a queen is a marvel, and the entire ensemble delivers inspired performances. The Village Voice called To You, The Birdie! "a valid reading of Phadre" and "a resonant meditation on our time." This morality tale will dazzle you with sophisticated multimedia brilliance and hilariously ribald humor as its many layers unfold.