“Antoni Cimolino has realized all of the depth and complexity of the play in his elegant, exquisite direction. From its stunning design by Francesca Callow, to the effective lighting by Michael Walton, the production just shimmers…

The cast is terrific from top to bottom. They are lead by Jakob Ehman as Eitan, fierce, compelling and always watchable. Eitan has to deal with many situations, not the least of which is his uptight father David (Alon Nashman). As Eitan, Jakob Ehman tries to control his temper to protect Wahida. The arguments are clear, focused and unsettling.”

“Mouawad has created a gallery of wonderfully vivid characters, each with their own distinct voice, and director Cimolino has elicited terrific performances from all of them. As noted, most of the cast members also appear in Nathan the Wise, but to much less effect. What a difference a great director can make!…

I hesitate to single out individual actors because they are all so good, but I was especially impressed by Sarah Orenstein’s fiery Norah, Alon Nashman’s tortured David, and Jakob Ehman’s effusive Eitan. I hope the Festival will find leading roles for Orenstein in future seasons and that both Nashman and Ehman will be invited back.”

“In director Antoni Cimolino’s Stratford adaptation of Birds of a Kind, memories, traumas and untold secrets of the past are seamlessly interwoven with events in the present, tying together a rich, dreamlike tapestry spanning centuries of conflict between peoples of disparate cultures, religions and languages.”

“This production of Wajdi Mouawad’s latest epic tragedy offers a profound experience of feeling and thought. Watching it I felt intrigue, tension, shock, release, horror and elation, and came out the other side simultaneously exhausted and buzzing.

If you’ve never seen one of Mouawad’s plays and if you are interested in a production that dares to go places, culturally and formally, rarely seen in English-speaking theatre, then I suggest you jump at the opportunity to see Birds of a Kind — but please be warned that there is much in it that has the potential to be devastating.”

“This play effectively takes the audience deep into the Israeli Palestinian conflict and allows us to view it through the skewed, and slowly developing perspectives of specific people. The pain and motivations behind the thoughts of certain characters allow them to be fully fleshed out people on a path of discovery-this makes it particularly devastating when one character’s path is suddenly cut short-especially because this is the character who arguably has the most self discovery to do. It may be tragic, but it also feels incredibly realistic.

This happens all the time in life and it is suddenly up to the people left behind to find their own version of spiritual meaning in what has happened. Each actor gives a truly powerful and heartbreaking performance right to the breathtaking final moments of the play.”

“A subplot about Wahida’s thesis on a 15th-century Muslim diplomat named al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan seems a distraction at first – but the eventual payoff is huge.

Wazzan, a real historical figure and possible inspiration for Shakespeare’s Othello, appears magically in many scenes from Wahida’s point of view – and is played with great grace by Aladeen Tawfeek, especially as he delivers a parable at the heartbreaking climax of the play.

Birds of a Kind is hardly a succinct play, clocking in at over three hours. While I will mainly defend Mouawad from accusations of overwriting – I almost always eventually get swept up in the sprawl of his Sturm und Drang – there are aspects here that feel reminiscent of early versions of older plays he eventually trimmed.”