It is perhaps unfashionable to say it these days, but Daphne du Maurier did a great service to both English literature and to Cornish culture.

Rebecca, in particular, is a masterpiece, while My Cousin Rachel, Frenchman's Creek and Hungry Hill remain classics of 20th century writing.

Also a prolific short story writer, complex little mysteries such as Monte Verita and The Apple Tree have been somewhat eclipsed by the novels. And it is sometimes forgotten that The Birds, which was turned into an infamous and disturbing Hollywood thriller by the director Alfred Hitchcock, began life as the story of one Cornish family struggling to survive an "alien" invasion.

The idea of rooks, robins, gulls and gannets all joining forces to slaughter mankind is at the same time nightmarish and brilliant. Perfect for dramatisation, it takes a brave company to attempt to evoke the terror experienced by a small community faced with the threat of a mass bird attack.

Tywardreath Players, with their director Richard Pears at the helm, cleverly, effectively and believably lead their audience through the stages of the crisis: disbelief, dismissal, acceptance, defence and despair.

Setting the adaptation in the present day, the entire story unfolds inside a community centre where villagers are making preparations for a carnival procession. At first light-hearted and jokey, the characters' initial response to a single bird attack is that it is a rogue phenomenon.

When these attacks increase in frequency and similar reports are received from other areas of the country, some villagers continue to bury their heads in the sand, refusing to believe what is happening. Others, like the three lads – played instinctively and authentically by Carne Gray-Roberts, Max Jacomb and Jake Willbourne – treat the whole thing as one big joke.

Gradually, however, the full horror unfolds. When a death is confirmed, the audience is exposed to the complete disintegration of a young woman who suddenly realises the endgame. Penny Mergler's performance as wife and mother Kate Hocken is a masterclass in anguish. Driven by uncontrollable fear for her family and community, she suffers a breakdown before our eyes, first looking for a way to sanctuary, angrily blaming her husband and lashing out at her son, before descending into utter hopelessness.

Kate's plight is matched in its intensity by Heather Sanders, who plays the village's calm, capable and organised police sergeant. Without giving too much away, the fate that befalls her is almost unbearable to watch, such is the intensity of her performance.

By no means a comfy night out, this production is both challenging and thought-provoking — and all the better for that. The desperate realisation of the fragility of the planet is summed up profoundly when one character says: "We need the birds to survive — but they don't need us."

The Birds by Tywardreath Players will be staged in a marquee at Pine Lodge Gardens, Holmbush, St Austell, until May 22 at 8pm. Tickets, priced £11, are available from the Daphne du Maurier Festival box office on 0845 094 0428 or from St Austell tourist information centre.