Blackbird

Having seen so many pantomimes recently (in March!) it was a refreshing change to be offered a gritty play with such thought-provoking subject matter. Peterborough Mask Theatre are well known for their superb productions and Blackbird, by David Harrower, is a harrowing piece, dealing with the abuse of a twelve year old girl, Una, some fifteen years ago by her next door neighbour, Ray. It was originally performed at The Edinburgh Festival in 2005 before transferring to the West End to rave reviews and so expectations were high for this thought-provoking piece.

The John Clare Theatre is such a lovely little theatre space and it is always a pleasure to watch performances here. Upon my arrival it was nice to see a display in the lobby celebrating 70 years of Mask productions, with old newspaper clippings, programmes and photos from productions past. It is so good to be able to look back at Mask’s heritage, for both audience and I suspect present members alike.

On entering the theatre space we were greeted with an untidy office staff room set (by John Crisp)  strewn with rubbish, which set the scene for things to come. It is such a shame that this was not a full house, as the production was certainly worthy of it. The lights dimmed to blackout and the music set the atmosphere of the piece beautifully. We are introduced to our two leads who are clearly at odds with each other. Una, played by Hannah Drury, who certainly has the upper hand in the opening moments and Ray - Peter Crerar - who is completely thrown by her sudden arrival. We wonder what it is that has brought them together.

As this hard-hitting play unravels we learn about their past relationship fifteen years ago, the age gap, the abuse, the misplaced love and the court case that eventually leads to where we are today. This piece, brilliantly directed by Matthew Clift, has just enough light and shade to keep us enthralled and on the edge of our seats throughout. Hannah’s portrayal of the now damaged Una was beautiful and she ably captured the many emotions that this character is feeling, allowing us to feel sympathy, empathy and loathing in equal measures as the piece develops. I thought her timing was superb as she left dramatic pauses long enough for us to mull over what had just been said - and was not afraid to leave us wondering.

Peter’s portrayal of Ray - who is now Peter following a jail sentence and a name change - was frantic, flustered and exasperated as this young lady suddenly appears back in his life. Despite trying to explain to Una how he felt at the time, she is not prepared to listen and takes on the role of victim, whilst also wanting to be in charge of the situation. The control switches from one to the other and we find ourselves empathising with one - then the other - and constantly wondering where our allegiance lies. It is an uncomfortable watch.

Towards the end of the play the atmosphere softens and both characters relax a little in each others company. However, as they begin to reminisce, there is a moment where Ray hands Una a bottle of water and their hands brush. This leads on to kissing, fondling and partial undressing until Ray realises what they are doing and stops it. Emotions are running high as Ray and Una fight and then throw the rubbish all over the room! Where will this all end? The audience is left squirming awkwardly on the edge of its seat.

As a young girl enters, looking for her dad, we discover that Ray has a family and has moved on - or has he? At the end of the piece he goes to them, leaving Una abandoned once again, as he had done before. She relives the whole nightmare of her past once again and, scared, chases after him. The lights dim and once again gentle music creates the atmosphere - this time the record gets stuck and we hear the same rhythm over and over - and over again. A clever and fitting ending.

This was a superb production, with excellent direction and talented actors. Tim Bold did a good job in the sound and light box and chose to light the set with one stark flat light throughout. This was very suitable for a staff room setting and it worked well throughout the piece, I did however wonder whether the use of a spotlight, just one office lamp on the table for example, could have been used to create a change in atmosphere at times as the play moved on. The atmosphere altered dramatically on stage but the lighting did not. The staff room door, stage right, had people calling from offstage or someone knocking on it from time to time but these sound effects came from stage left. This may be the constraints of the theatre, however it would have been simple to have someone actually calling from stage right or knocking on the door, rather than having this as a sound effect. I personally found it distracting when the sound came from one side but the action was on the other, whilst I was so engrossed in the piece. 

Congratulations to Peterborough Mask Theatre on a stunning production. Blackbird is not an easy play to produce due to the subject matter and must be handled sensitively and so plaudits go to Matthew Clift for his direction and to Hannah Drury and Peter Crerar for their excellent portrayals of these difficult characters. A thoroughly enjoyable, and decidedly uncomfortable, evening.

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