Courtesy/LALT
By KELLY DOLEJSI
LALT
Los Alamos, no stranger to scientific experimentation, is about to get its first taste of experimental theater.
Los Alamos Little Theatre’s “Bird in the Hand”, directed by Matt DeSmith and written by playwright David Hanson, will be presented in three different rooms — simultaneously — at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Jan. 30, 31 and Feb. 6, 7, and at 2 p.m. Sundays, Feb. 1 and 8, at the Betty Ehart Senior Center, 1101 Bathtub Row.
Tickets at $10 are available at lalt.org and https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/
“I’m ecstatic that the Los Alamos Little Theatre is presenting ‘Bird In The Hand’,” Hanson said. “To see a play that turns on world-altering technology literally presented in a place known for world-altering technology is truly special.”
Hanson said “Bird In The Hand” began his “fascination with creating immersive theater and the power that comes from conversations that theater inspires.”
The show has previously been produced twice. First, it was set on three different levels of “the historic Kansas City Union Station and performed amid open restaurants, Amtrak trains coming and going, and passersby wandering the historic station.”
The second production occurred in a historic public park as part of an international arts festival.
This performance takes place where “literally amazing science happens every single day. The thing that ties all the different iterations together is the audience. The play asks people to come together at the end and have a conversation about what each person saw, didn’t see, didn’t get. Through this process, we hope that audiences not only gain a better sense of all that took place in the play they just experienced, but also experience the amazing things that happen when people share with each other to form deeper understanding.”
DeSmith said that at first, the idea of directing “Bird in the Hand” seemed impractical at best. He recalled how he and other LALT members, fresh off the 2025 LALT 8×10’s, started reading scripts to potentially propose as shows in the coming season.
“We went through quite a few scripts in those table reads, and among them were some independently-published plays written by David Hanson, the uncle of Bird’s stage manager, Emily Stark. When we read through Bird in the Hand, we all collectively agreed, ‘Well, that’s cool but would be tricky to pull off,’ and left it there.
“Fast-forward about a month: I was in a coffee shop, drinking a latte and marking up some Sondheim for an upcoming audition. As I was playing out some pitches on my phone’s piano app, I received a text from Emily. Apparently, she was interested in stage managing that crazy spy drama we read through and was looking for a director. I’d just had my directorial debut with a comedic scene in the 8×10’s, so naturally my first thought was ‘Must be a wrong number?’ … I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here: If anyone other than Emily Stark had asked me to direct Bird in the Hand while they stage managed, I would have said no. However, it was Emily Stark who asked me to do this. She wore all of the hats in the 8×10’s, including shouldering many stage-manager responsibilities, so I knew that she could competently handle a play of this type … It’s been a wild ride since then, but a rewarding one.”
The cast and crew have been working without a home while the County and its contractors finish renovations of the Performing Arts Center (PAC), and DeSmith said he feels “blessed to be part of a community that’s been so willing to turn out for us when we needed a space to rehearse. Lots of places have opened their doors to us, including Samizdat, both public libraries, the Little Studio on the Mesa, and the LDS Church. Lastly, I’m incredibly grateful to the Betty Ehart Senior Center for agreeing to host our productions. This show has very specific staging requirements, and the Senior Center is the perfect venue for it.”
So, what is “Bird in the Hand” about? It’s both an espionage thriller and a family drama that takes place across three rooms at the same time, and no single room gets everything needed to solve the puzzle around what happens during the hostage exchange that is the show’s premise.
Some rooms will be able to partially see others, but audience members will need to talk to each other to get the complete story. Repeat viewings are also encouraged.
Terry Berry, who plays Senior Agent Phillips, asked audience members to “consider coming back and seeing the show on another stage. Then consider what assumptions you made about the characters or the action after the first viewing that were enhanced or contradicted when seeing a different view … In real life, scenarios happen simultaneously in various places, and observers are just exposed to what happens in the place they are in. Plays on one stage don’t get to present these different perspectives. I am very eager to see how audiences respond to this.”
Lanie Cleveland, playing Anna Phillips, agreed, saying, “Please go to more than one-third of the play. It will add to your experience quite a bit if you see two or three of the parts. That said, if you only see or have time to see one-third, then it will not dilute your experience. My best advice for any audience member is just to enjoy the show!”
DeSmith recommended that fans of action start with “The Third Floor”, fans of drama to view “The Glass Walkway”, and fans of espionage to watch “The Balcony”.
“‘The Balcony’ contains the most exposition and is the most self-contained story, so it’s good for audiences who want to understand the general background of the show’s plot,” he said. “However, audiences who only watch ‘The Balcony’ won’t get to meet even half the cast. ‘The Glass Walkway’ has some of the deepest character moments so it’s great for the audiences who want to understand the emotional stakes of the plot, but no character experiences their entire arc in that room. ‘The Third Floor’ is lightest on plot details, but it contains a lot of big character revelations and has, in my opinion, the two most shocking scenes in the show.”
Day Forgaard, playing Agent Riley, said the production is “not like anything I’ve ever seen. I play the character whose role is to communicate with the other rooms over the radio, and it’s a fascinating challenge to try to keep the timing synched up.”
Stage manager Emily Stark called the comms “both a life-saver and a huge hassle,” adding that overall, “the script is really well-thought out from a logistics perspective and the comms keep everything synchronized. The timing is rarely perfect, but Matt has done so much character work with the actors that they are prepared to improvise dialogue.”
She also emphasized how realistic the show’s many props are, thanks to the crew’s props and software developer, Corey Skinner. His work “really adds to the actors’ experience on stage and will bring a fascinating element to the audience. The personal detonation device and the hair clip are my favorites and needed a lot of creativity. The custom-written computer codes are also some of the coolest touches I’ve seen in a staged piece. We always try to create realistic props, but we had to be especially on point with this show since the audience is sitting so close.”
The multi-room structure certainly gives this show some unique technical challenges, and DeSmith said he is “incredibly proud of my cast and crew for the patience they’ve shown. And I’ve been fortunate to have an amazing crew to help me over the hurdles. Emily, Jack (Williams), and Producer Mandie Gehring have been invaluable towards handling all of the logistical challenges that I struggle with.”
In addition to Beery, Cleveland, and Forgaard, the cast includes Toni Flora, Eliza McCall, Collin McDowell, Paige Ramsey, and Patrick Webb.