By JACOB FISHEL

Turning from Greek high drama (The Odyssey) to low comedy, Juilliard's third-year drama students apply their talents to Len Jenkin's adaptation of Aristophanes' The Birds this month, in a production directed by Christopher Bayes. This gem of a comedy from one of the foremost satirist playwrights of the Golden Age of Greek drama examines man's search for peace and contentment in a world plagued by his own evils. Aristophanes wrote the original play more than 2,400 years ago during the Great Peloponnesian War, when Athens faced an uncertain future. It tells the story of two Athenians who leave their homeland in search of a place where men can live in happiness. Their journey takes them into the sky, to the city of the birds: Cloudcuckooland. Frustrated with the evils of humanity and the arrogance of the gods, the two devise a plan to build their own utopia in the clouds and give the birds supreme power. They erect an enormous wall between earth and the heavens, severing communication between humanity and the gods. As they build the wall, they are invaded by men driven by greed and gods threatening to destroy them. But at last, their utopia is completed, the wicked men are expelled, the gods concede to the birds, and all is happy in Cloudcuckooland.

Costume designs for The Birds are by Caitlin Ward.

Aristophanes' comedy is full of contemporary references and criticisms of Athenian political and social practices of the time. Alas, these references have not aged well over some two-and-a-half millennia and are about as effective as telling Archduke Ferdinand jokes. But award-winning playwright Len Jenkin has creatively adapted the play into a ferociously funny examination of modern American civilization. The location has been transported from Athens 414 B.C.E. to latter-day Las Vegas, and all the obscure Greek lawmakers, surveyors, prophets, and poets wrapped in togas of obsolescence are replaced by dirty politicians, showgirls, computer geeks, comedians, real-estate agents, and televangelists. At first it may seem slightly inappropriate, but—when examining the struggle of mankind to regain its innocence—what better city represents the slime, greed, and downfall of humanity than Las Vegas?

The text is fiercely biting and very vulgar, yet at the same time has great tenderness. It is this dichotomy that excites director Christopher Bayes. "Len's adaptation is hilarious, vulgar … and very sweet," he notes. "It's quite a marvelous combination of a lot of really unusual things. All things stunning and rare—violent, but with a soft heart. The clash between the vulgar and the sweet, the gentle and the violent, is very important. You can't pull back from it. If you stay in the middle, neither will resonate like it should. You have to be just as vulgar as the language."

A great deal of original music has been added to the play. An onstage band will accompany the 16 actors in song-and-dance numbers, many of which are performed by the anthropomorphic bird characters. The three-person band, playing an eclectic combination of instruments including a clarinet, an accordion, and a drum set, covers a wide range of musical styles including salsa, gospel, '50s jazz standards—and of course, Vegas lounge songs.

The Birds Studio 301 Thursday-Tuesday, Dec. 11-16, 8 p.m. Tickets are not available to the public.

This marks the second time Mr. Bayes has tackled the adaptation of this play; he directed the world premiere in 2001 at the Yale Repertory Theater. An accomplished director, Bayes is also a consummate teacher of physical comedy and clown work currently on faculty here at The Juilliard School, as well as the Actor's Center, Yale School of Drama, the Academy of Classical Acting at the Shakespeare Theater in Washington, and New York University's Graduate Acting Program. When asked what it is that's so valuable that he brings to this play, Bayes deadpans, "Coffee." Then, after a dramatic pause, he adds: "Coffee … and a will to live." Not quite the answer one would expect; then again, the unexpected is exactly what we've come to expect from Mr. Bayes. He continues in a more serious tone, "I think I bring a physical approach to character and the emotion of theater that can allow us to enter into another kind of work, a different kind of psychology that is closer to that of the bird world."

Through all the slapstick, sight gags, musical numbers, vulgarity, and modernization, the play has retained its major themes, which still have relevance today. As Bayes sums it up: "This play makes you investigate the American mythology: Do we have an American mythology? What is utopia in society? Is the beauty and simplicity of the natural world part of that utopia? These are not unique questions, but ones that every generation must ask itself. How do we bring the logic and simplicity of the natural world into our daily lives? It's an important question to ask."

Third-year drama student Jacob Fishel plays three roles in The Birds.