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Theatre Review: Blackbird ****

Michael Cox reviews a production of a modern Scottish classic with excellent performances.

David Harrower’s Blackbird is a tough play: it is an unflinching look at the repercussions of a sexual affair from fifteen years ago between Ray and Una. Both are scarred individuals, and memories and emotions come flooding back as they question each other, not only about their lives but about what happened all those years ago.

Most unsettling about their liaison is the fact that, at the time, Ray was 40 but Una was only 12.

Gareth Nicholls’ production is like a wound clock, tight but ticking away to an inevitable toll. The stage is sparse, taking place in a nondescript room cluttered with loose rubbish and lit by bright fluorescent tubes. The pace of the action is mostly at a simmer, only boiling over at key moments in the end.

The master stroke, however, is found in its actors. It would be easy to cast Ray as a tabloid portrait of a paedophile: potbelly, grey and unshaven. Instead we have Paul Higgins: good-looking and with an aura mixed with meekness and anger. Higgins plays Ray as an apologetic man, one who knows he did wrong but wants another shot at life. That the production sometimes makes Ray a sympathetic character makes for some uncomfortable moments. Equally effective is Camrie Palmer’s Una, a character who is multilayered with complex motives for wanting this meeting. Palmer could have played a character filled with justifiable rage but instead chooses a subtle approach—it works well, even if it isn’t as ‘showy’ as the role can be.

It would be simple to have produced a production of Blackbird with a wagging finger, crossed arms and righteous anger towards the protagonists; instead this is unafraid of taking the difficult road in making audiences face harsh realities with characters who can't be summed up in shades of black and white.

Blackbird has completed its run.

Tags: theatre

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