Blackbird: A Play (Faber and Faber Plays) [Paperback]

David Harrower (Author)

Book Description

Series: Faber and Faber Plays | Publication Date: May 15, 2007

Fifteen years ago, Una and Ray had a relationship. They haven't set eyes on each other since. Now she's found him again.

 

Blackbird was commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival and premiered at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 2005. The production transferred to the Albery Theatre, London, in February 2006, and went on to open at the Manhattan Theater Club, New York City, in April 2007.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Harrower's drama positively explodes with unresolved, and possibly irresolvable, concerns . . . his brooding ambiguity and his dry, resonating poetry culminate in one of the most daring new plays of recent years."—Sunday Herald

About the Author

David Harrower's plays include Knives in Hens, Kill the Old, Torture Their Young, Presence, and Dark Earth. Blackbird was shortlisted for the Saltire Society Book of the Year Award and won the 2007 Lawrence Olivier Award for Best New Play.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber; 1st edition (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571233198
• ISBN-13: 978-0571233199
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,293,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark subject , rewarding read., April 24, 2008

By 

Ruth Bell "Unexpected" (Burringbar, NSW. Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blackbird: A Play (Faber and Faber Plays) (Paperback)

Fifteen years ago, Una and Ray had a relationship when Una was 12 and Ray was 40. They haven't set eyes on each other since. Now she's found him again.

I bought this play after seeing it performed. It's the kind of play that follows you around for days after you've seen it.

I think it's a valuable play to have on the bookshelf if you are interested in writing plays. You can learn a lot about sub-text in reading this play.


It's a very brave play and I really feel that David Harrower spent the time to really get into his characters skins. Both characters seem very authentic in an amazing, yet in a very disturbing way.

This play in essence I think is about the hold a pedophile can have over his victim and the complex relationship the victim can have with her perpetrators memory.

Although disturbing I thought the structure of the play was brilliant. If you love plays you need to have this on your bookshelf.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great play, September 14, 2007

By 

Nicholas Leshi "kikstad" (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blackbird: A Play (Faber and Faber Plays) (Paperback)

Although the formatting of the text threw me off a bit (it read like a free verse poem at first) after the first page I got used to it and the story and characters totally gripped me. Very powerful, very naturalistic dialogue, and a lot of brilliant subtext. The story deals with two very damaged people trying to get on with their lives in their own way. I wish I had the chance to see the stage production, but reading it is almost as good.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the play was excellent, February 3, 2010

By 

T. Kingsbury "Billy's Girl" (Bristol, CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blackbird - Acting Edition (Paperback)

I went to see the play live in Chicago at the Victory Gardens theater. Shocking, gut renching, amazing, heartstopping, those are some of the words I can think of to tell you what I felt while there in the nineth row. I just had to have the script. It is not a subject matter that most people would find good for the stage or even for discussion but having been there and seen it I found I had to have it.