Chekhov is given a cheeky makeover in Dobama’s marvelous ‘Stupid F**king Bird’ Bob Abelman Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal Perhaps it’s the deep, elusive and haunting quality of Anton Chekhov’s 19th century plays – where what appears at first glance to be deceptively simple reveals something ominous just beneath the surface – that has inspired so many contemporary retellings. But it is the pathologically laconic precision of Chekhov’s writing and the angst-filled, self-aware people with way too much time on their hands who populate it that has inspired some recent reinventions that are boldly and wonderfully satirical. Prime examples are Christopher Durang’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” which was recently staged by the Cleveland Play House, and Aaron Posner’s “Stupid F**king Bird,” which is being given an absolutely brilliant production at Dobama Theatre. “Stupid F**king Bird,” which is Posner’s take on Chekhov’s 1895 classic “The Seagull,” received its world premiere at Washington, D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in 2013 and became one of the Top 10 most-produced plays in the country the following year. For more of this review, go to: www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/