If We Were Birds

If We Were Birds is a shocking, uncompromising examination of the horrors of war, giving voice to a woman long ago forced into silence, and placing a spotlight on millions of female victims who have been silenced through violence. A deeply affecting and thought-provoking re-imagining of Ovid’s masterpiece “Tereus, Procne, and Philomela,” Erin Shields’s award-winning play is an unflinching commentary on contemporary war and its aftermath delivered through the lens of Greek tragedy.

AUTHOR

Erin Shields

Erin Shields is a Canadian playwright based in Toronto. Much of her work highlights the negation or misrepresentation of women in classical texts by adapting these stories through a feminist lens for a contemporary audience. Erin has won numerous awards for her work including the Governor General’s Literary Award for If We Were Birds and the Quebec Writers Federation Prize for Paradise Lost and The Millennial Malcontent. Other plays include Jane Eyre (Citadel Theatre), Piaf/Dietrich (Mirvish Productions/Segal Centre), Beautiful Man (Factory Theatre), The Lady from the Sea (Shaw Festival), and Instant (Geordie Theatre/YPT).

Reviews

“Anyone doubting the relevance and primal pull of myth needs to see If We Were Birds. Scratch that. Anyone interested in powerful theatre should see it.” —Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine
“The writing is both poetic and muscular, the images are vivid, breathtaking, and heart-squeezing… pulsing with life and emotions.” —Lynn Slotkin, Here and Now, CBC Radio