Northern Essex Community College students Armando Belliard Harmon of Haverhill portrays Tragorean and Gwynnethe Glickman of Newbury portrays Mash in NECC’s adaptation of Aaron Posner’s play “Stupid F*cking Bird” which  has been selected to be performed during the American College Theater Festival Region 1 in January 2019.

For the first time in Northern Essex Community College’s history, the American College Theater Festival Region I has selected its production of “Stupid F*cking Bird” to be remounted and reprised at this year’s Kennedy Center American College Theater Region 1 Festival on Wednesday,  January 30 in Hyannis.

The Northern Essex adaptation of the Aaron Posner play, which explores love, art, and revolution, will be performed at 1 and 5 p.m. It is co-directed by Brianne Beatrice, Northern Essex theater professor and advisor to the NECC Topnotch Players, the college’s student theater group, and NECC student Sarah Durning of North Andover. The play is an irreverent, contemporary, and very funny remix of Chekhov’s “The Seagull.”

“Highly competitive, being invited to Festival is an outrageous step for Northern Essex Community College and our Theater Program,” said Beatrice.

Each year between 30 and 40 schools submit a production and two or three are invited to perform, said Beatrice. Months ago, NECC submitted the “Stupid F*cking Bird” to be viewed. The final decision was made in early December to invite the NECC production to Festival.

“In January, at festival, our production will perform for all university theater programs in Region I and there will be a response by a representative from the Kennedy Center,” said Beatrice.

If the production excels in the Region I Festival, it is hoped the show will go to Washington, DC, in May, Beatrice said.

For additional information, contact Beatrice at bribeats@gmail.com