Blackbird (play)

Infobox Play
name = Blackbird


image_size = 150px
caption =
writer = David Harrower
characters =
genre = Drama
setting =
subject = an awkward reunion 15 years after a sexual affair when he was 40 and she was 12
premiere = 2005
place = Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh, Scottland
orig_lang = English
web =
ibdb_id =
iobdb_id =

"Blackbird" is a 2005 play by Scottish playwright David Harrower. It was inspired in part by the crimes of sex offender Toby Studebaker and depicts the meeting between a young woman and a middle-aged man with whom, fifteen years earlier, at the age of 12, she had had a sexual relationship.

Productions

"Blackbird" was commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival and premiered at the 2005 festival under the direction of Peter Stein. In February 2006 it opened at the West End Albery Theatre with Roger Allam and Jodhi May in the primary roles. [http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/reviewsindexb.htm] [http://www.eif.co.uk/N49_Blackbird_Scoops_Top_Theatre_Award.php?PHPSESSID=e76 EIF > Blackbird Scoops Top Theatre Award]

In the spring of 2007 the play received simultaneous American premieres by the Manhattan Theater Club off-Broadway and at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco The New York production was directed by Joe Mantello. [http://www.curtainup.com/blackbirdny.html]

In April 2008 the play was revived in a new production by David Grindley at the Rose Theatre, Kingston (in south-west London) prior to a national tour of the UK. [http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/blackbirdtour-rev.htm]

Awards and nominations

* 2006 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland for Best New Play
* 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play

References

Further reading

*

External links