The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film produced and directed by Mike Nichols. Elaine May's screenplay adapted the 1978 French film La Cage aux Folles, itself an adaptation of a 1973 play. It stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple whose son is set to marry the daughter of a conservative senator and his wife. Hank Azaria and Christine Baranski appear in supporting roles. The film marked the first screen collaboration of Nichols and May, who had been a comedy duo in the 1950s and 1960s.