18th Play - Blackbird by David Harrower
Roger Allam as Ray and Jodhi May as Una in the London production in 2006 at the Albery Theatre. Photo: Alistair Muir.
Okay, I picked this play because it had Roger Allam’s photo on the front of it. Roger Allam is an amazing British actor - I know him from the British TV series “Endeavor” (the prequel to the “Inspector Morse” series). Since then, I’ve seen him show up in so many things - he’s quite prolific in that world. Apparently, he was in the original production of this play that transferred from the Edinburg International Festivel to London. But, what a FASCINATING (and disturbing) play! CONTENT DISCLOSURES: Statutory rape, sexual abuse
Summary: “Una, a 27-year-old woman, comes to visit Ray, a 55-year-old man, at his office. They are clearly not comfortable in other's company, and we soon find out why: 15 years before, when Una was only twelve, Ray seduced Una over the course of three months and finally took her away to a hotel for the weekend. Ray spent several years in prison for statutory rape, and Una was ostracized from her community after the incident. Now, she has found him by accident, and the play delves into their complex feelings for each other. Though clearly, and definitionally, sexual abuse has occurred, the play that ensues is also part of a love story -- a horrible love story, but a love story all the same. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best Play, Blackbird is a deeply complex portrayal of two people whose ruined lives are inextricably intertwined.” From StageAgent.
Laura’s thoughts in brief: This play reminds me a lot of a play I loved in the 90’s, but now feel is … problematic: Oleanna, by David Mamet. That play was similarly a two-hander “he said/she said” story with two sides, and we didn’t quite know who was right and who was wrong. Now, in this play, we know from early on in the play that Ray is definitively wrong. He had a relationship with a 12 year old. However, things are not as clear cut as they seem, and we see how Ray, with encouragement from Una, might have stumbled into the relationship. IT STILL DOESN’T EXCUSE IT. I don’t know how well this show might play today, because it feels like they are trying to do the Oleanna thing by making the girl partly culpable, which she may have been, but she was 12. So, period. I will say that the play continues to allow her character to remind Ray of that, and very unlike Oleanna, he consistently admits guilt. Maybe it’s just the summaries I read of the play that made it seem that they were making her more guilty, I don’t know. Possibly the play is still doable today, but it would be … tricky. The play gets even more complicated as we see they still have feelings for each other. That part felt a little icky to me, and that’s the part I don’t know how it would play today. I think the most valuable thing the play shows is the ruin of BOTH of their lives by this incident. It’s devastating to see, particularly for Una, how her family just made it worse for her, instead of supporting her. Then the ending was a bit confusing to me (trying not to spoil …). I couldn’t tell if history was repeating itself, or if the playwright just wanted us to wonder. Perhaps it would be clearer in a production. Overall, though, a fascinating piece, and I think this would be interesting to watch. I’m pretty sure it would make me mad in parts, and it should be directed by a woman.
READ MORE! Here’s what others had to say about productions
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/feb/14/theatre2
https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/blackbird
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/theater/review-blackbird-the-past-returns-taunting.html