Summer. A family gathers. And for no good reason, destroys one another. 

Dirty Bird  transports Chekhov’s classic Seagull to present-day New York. Refusing to sentimentalize the text, it strips away the period distance and leave what was always there: ten people running out of time, unable to say what they mean. Fully embracing the surrealism of Chekhov, Dirty Bird shatters convention within expressionism, and offers a darker take on Chekhov's classic with a score built around artists like Bowie, the Pixies, and the Zombies.

Featuring brilliant emerging talents River Knight*, AJ Molder, Fiona Rose Dyer, and Trevor Clarkson alongside downtown theater staples such as Mary Bacon*, Neal Bledsoe*, Terrence Montgomery*, Johnny Sanchez*, and Johnny Sparks*.

A forensic examination of the transcendence and violence of desire, the insatiable need to discover new forms of human expression and the brutal aches that shape us… a traverse to endure amongst the moments of neon lightening and jagged wounds.

Chekhov's The Seagull in a radical new adaptation by writer / director Whit Flint. 
Produced by Twenty Somethings Prod. in collaboration with Riot Act

Sept 4th - 20th, 2026
at ErF Gallery
Brooklyn, NY

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With humble beginnings in a backyard in Brooklyn, TWENTY SOMETHINGS PRODUCTIONS is a NY based production company that has made a name for itself in the crossover of independent music and theater. Since 2023, they have produced 3 theatrical productions and countless concerts with shoutouts in underground publications as well as Rolling Stone Magazine. Twenty Somethings is committed to giving artists a space to perform and experiment through all avenues, believing in the tenacity of youth and seeking to stir it up in their audiences and artists. From DIY punk shows to site-specific performance, Twenty Somethings brings the energy of the next generation to a stifled artistic landscape.

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RIOT ACT was founded in East London in 2015 by Artistic Director Whit Flint and quickly established itself as a radical and bold voice within the UK theatre ecosystem. For the last decade Riot Act has produced nearly two dozen productions in various international cities such as Berlin, Amsterdam, Moscow, Salt Lake City and most recently in Los Angeles.
With both a brass knuckles rebellion and razor sharp precision, Riot Act aims to provide immediate and electric theatre to audiences. The group’s desire has always been a common goal to incite a revolution, rooted in the resuscitation and rediscovery of classic texts. As a Chekhovian scholar who studied in the UK and at GITIS in Moscow, Whit Flint has adapted and directed all of the Russian visionary’s six major works as well as several of the plays of Shakespeare, Ibsen, Brecht, and the Greeks.

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Dirty Bird is an Equity Approved Showcase.
* denotes actors appearing courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association.