Scientists and authorities have failed us, and societal collapse is imminent. That’s the premise of The Birds, the one-woman show starring Paula Arundell which opens this week at Belvoir, after a 2025 Malthouse season.

Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds, a 1952 horror short story about a flock of birds who turn murderous on a small English town, loosely inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 thriller. In this production, adaptor Louise Fox returns to the source material (albeit with a gender-bent protagonist) and a modern Australian setting.

Paula Arundell in The Birds. Photo © Pia Johnson

Arundell is Tessa, recently moved with her family from the city to a coastal town for a fresh start. She’s an absorbing (and likeable) presence, and perceptive enough to notice odd bird incidents mounting before everyone else does.

As the threat begins to grow and authorities downplay it, she acts early, preparing weapons.

Director Matthew Lutton cranks up the tension, punctuating the drama with surprising humour. When the birds do strike, lighting (Niklas Pajanti) and sound (J. David Franzke) assault the senses. These sequences are electric and unsettling, wisely avoiding any physical representation of the birds in favour of audience imagination.

Kat Chan’s design space is sparse but gritty, if a little underwhelming. Most effective are the clusters hidden in the rig, hanging ominously overhead.

Paula Arundell in The Birds. Photo © Pia Johnson

While written in the post-WWII era, the work feels deeply resonant in the 2020s, where pandemics have exposed fear and mistrust in those in charge. Fox turns the work into a taut, entertaining 80-minute thriller that shares DNA with popular post-apocalyptic series such as HBO’s The Last of Us.

As you walk home, keep your eyes on the skies.

The Birds plays at Belvoir, Surry Hills until 7 June.