Regretfully, So the Birds Are

March 22-April 30, 2023

written by Julia Izumi
directed by Jenny Koons

Arson. Affairs. Incest. Murder… are only the beginning of problems for the Whistler siblings. Mora’s gotta find her birth mother, Neel’s gotta find himself, and Illy’s gotta keep her piece of the sky… but the birds have other plans. Julia Izumi’s Regretfully, So the Birds Are is a wild, farcical tragedy that gleefully flips the human quest for self-discovery on its head.

“A formally adventurous play that uses absurdity to echo the discombobulation of transnational adoptees, adrift in a sea of uncomprehending whiteness.”

-Helen Shaw, The New Yorker

“Izumi offers a whimsical meditation on self-discovery — and a reminder to take stock of what (and who) you have in your life at this moment.”

– Allison Considine, New York Theater Guide

“Clear the airwaves for a fresh new voice”

– Sandy MacDonald, New York Stage Review

Regretfully, So the Birds Are is a co-production with Playwrights Horizons.

Regretfully, So the Birds Are Trailer

Julia Izumi

(Playwright) Julia’s work has been developed and presented at MTC, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Bushwick Starr, WP Theater, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Seattle Rep, The COOP, NNPN/Kennedy Center MFA Playwrights’ Workshop, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Williamstown, CAATA’s National Asian-American Theatre ConFest, and Pork Filled Productions. Awards and honors: OPC Dr. Kerry English Award, O’Neill’s National Playwriting Conference Finalist, Kilroys List Honorable Mention, and KCACTF’s Darrell Ayers Playwriting Award. She is a current New Dramatists Resident. Current commissions: True Love Productions, MTC/Sloan, Playwrights Horizons. MFA: Brown University juliaizum.com

Jenny Koons

(Director) Credits: Head Over Heels (Pasadena Playhouse), Hurricane Diane (Huntington Theatre), Now Becomes Then (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Men on Boats (Baltimore Center Stage), Speechless (New Blue Man Group North American Tour), The Tempest (The Juilliard School), Between Us: The Deck of Cards (Denver Center for the Performing Arts), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Public Theater Mobile Unit), Burn All Night (American Repertory Theatre), Theatre for One: In This Moment (Pershing Square Signature Center), Instant SPKRBOX (SPKRBOX Festival commission, Norway), Bars and Measures (B Street Theatre), Gimme Shelter (Why Not Theatre, Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games commission), Theatre for One: I’m Not the Stranger You Think I Am (Arts Brookfield), A Sucker Emcee (National Black Theatre, LAByrinth Theater Company, SPKRBOX Festival, Norway), Queen of the Night (Diamond Horseshoe Nightclub, Drama Desk Award), The Odyssey Project 2012 (site-specific NYC). She has been an artist in residence at Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and The Invisible Dog Art Center, and has developed new work at Steppenwolf, Roundabout, and New Black Fest, among others. Jenny is a Lilly Award recipient and proud member of the SDC.