House of Oz - BIRDS Q&A
BIRDS is a camp, absurd Australian comedy theatre show written and performed by Alex Hines and Sarah Stafford. Billed as Waiting for Godot meets Kath & Kim, it follows two women—a wealthy divorcee and a mother of twelve—who escape to the beach only for the world to bizarrely unravel around them.
Please tell us about your show. What can audiences expect when they come to see it?
SARAH: The best way to describe ‘BIRDS’ is ‘Waiting for Godot’ meets ‘Ab Fab’ in the apocalypse. It's about two women at the beach, sitting in deck chairs, chain-smoking and chatting while the world slowly collapses around them. It's camp, it's absurd, it's a sweat-soaked delirium that starts as comedy and gradually descends into body horror. BIRDS explores our extraordinary ability to normalise the unimaginable. We distract ourselves, we avoid difficult truths, we make jokes, and we carry on with the everyday because sometimes that's the only way we know how to cope.
ALEX: Audiences should expect the unexpected... unless what you're expecting is high-joke-rate comedy, big characters, even bigger wigs, tiny bikinis and post dramatic text. In that case, you're exactly right.
What inspired it?
SARAH: ‘BIRDS’ was heavily inspired by ‘Waiting for Godot’ and Beckett's exploration of the absurdity of human existence. We were drawn to the simplicity of two people talking, waiting and carrying on with everyday life while an overwhelming sense of uncertainty hangs over everything. That structure felt like the perfect way to explore the quiet, persistent feeling of impending doom that comes with living through the climate crisis.
ALEX: All of our work has a distinctly camp, queer Australiana aesthetic. We love using theatricality and dark humour to explore difficult ideas, so it felt natural to take those absurdist influences and filter them through giant wigs, tiny bikinis and heightened suburban Australian women.
How does it feel to be performing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
ALEX: From all accounts, Edinburgh Fringe feels like a marathon, but we haven't hit that point yet. At the moment all we feel is pure excitement, optimism and an insatiable appetite to perform.
SARAH: We’re incredibly excited. This is Alex's second time performing at the Fringe and my first, so getting to experience it together feels like a goddam dream. We've spent the last year pouring everything into BIRDS, so it's exciting to finally share it with international audiences and be part of a festival we've admired for so long.
What does it mean to be part of House of Oz this year?
ALEX: It's great to be part of such a carefully curated group of Australian artists. At a festival as enormous as Edinburgh, it's nice to feel like you're arriving with a little community.
SARAH: House of Oz has built a real reputation for showcasing some of the most exciting work coming out of Australia, so it feels incredibly special to be included in that program. It's a wonderful opportunity to support one another while celebrating Australian theatre on an international stage.
What does it mean to bring your work to UK audiences?
ALEX: It means we've had to rework parts of the show because it turns out there really is such a thing as being too Australian.
SARAH: But that camp, dark comedic sensibility is definitely something we share with UK audiences. We're excited to see what parts of the work resonate most. And god forbid we make you feel like you are on an Australian beach holiday even just for a moment.
What would you like UK audiences to know about Antipodean arts and culture right now?
SARAH: We're geographically isolated and the rest of the world can feel a very long way away. But despite that, or maybe because of it, there's some incredible original work being made. If you look across the House of Oz program, every show is completely different, which really speaks to the diversity of contemporary Australian theatre.
ALEX: Australian artists aren't afraid to be bold, strange or deeply specific. We made BIRDS as both a celebration of kitsch suburban Australia and an interrogation of the darker parts of our culture. The details might be uniquely Australian, but the comedy and existential dread is universal.
7. What kind of support do artists need most when bringing work overseas?
ALEX: Admin... do you know how hard it is to move from one country to another?
SARAH: Money... have you seen the exchange rate? It's not lost on us how fortunate we are to be part of this festival. Opportunities like this are genuinely career-changing, but they're also out of reach for so many independent artists. Taking work overseas requires an enormous investment of time, money and administration long before you ever step on stage. Artists need support that goes beyond funding. We need producing expertise, mentorship, industry connections and, most importantly, access to audiences.
ALEX: Touring internationally isn't only about presenting one show. It's about building sustainable careers, creating international relationships and giving Australian stories the opportunity to connect with people all over the world.
What's next for you after Edinburgh?
ALEX: I’m manifesting striking gold and retiring within the year.
SARAH: I’m almost certain we’ve made the next ‘Baby Reindeer’ so I’ll head home and wait for Netflix to call the landline.