Blackbird at Renaissance Theaterworks

Blackbird is spare and intense.

David Harrower’s drama, which Renaissance Theaterworks opened Friday, plays out in the filthy break room of some office that exists for who knows what in the middle of who knows where. The interaction of two people — Brian Mani as Ray and Carrie Coon as Una — drives the momentum.

Initially, Blackbird appears to be about a sexual assault victim confronting her abuser 15 years after the abuse. (At the time of the play, he is 56 and she is 27). But the play quickly develops into a complex psychological drama that opens a window into their relationship and the complex emotions and desires that drove their affair and shaped them afterward.

Blackbird does not attempt to provide answers. It merely explores the complexities of a relationship that is one of the most sensitive of cultural taboos.

Harrower’s inspiration came from news reports of a 40-year-old man’s affair with a pre-adolescent girl. In 2003, Toby Studabaker, a former American marine, befriended a 12-year-old girl from Manchester, England, via the Internet. He ran away with her to Europe. He was eventually found, arrested, and pleaded guilty to abduction. Harrower was fascinated with how a man could justify testing society’s moral limits to such a degree.

As the play develops, the characters’ carefully constructed new personae fall to the wayside. They descend into their former selves; Ray tries to explain and justify their relationship, and Una once again feels drawn to Ray. She searches in vain for ways to discredit his character (asking him if he’s a janitor, a night watchman, if he lives in this break room) when she can no longer hold on to her image of him as her abuser. She once again finds herself a 12-year-old girl desperate for Ray’s attention and love and terrified of his abandonment.

Carrie Coon’s portrayal of Una begins as slightly mechanical and stilted. In this, she works within Una’s complex psyche. Una has rehearsed this confrontation. She knows exactly what she wants to say. Only after Ray breaks down her carefully constructed barriers does she opens up and reveal her feelings for him. Coon is at once strong and destroyed. She is the antagonizer and the antagonized. She portrays Una not as a helpless victim, but as a strong-willed participant who is dealing with emotions she still cannot understand.

Brian Mani’s expertly portrayed Ray is damaged by years of hiding behind a facade. Mani’s Ray is not entirely sympathetic, but certainly not a monster. He navigates Ray’s complex desires and feelings for Una in a way that leaves us with more questions than answers. Like Una, Ray has not found fulfillment in his new life and has never come to understand the meaning of their relationship.

Blackbird, directed by Susan Fete, is 90 minutes of tension, with no intermission, set changes or gaps between scenes to break it. Mani, Coon and the play never wilt under the heat of our unbroken gaze.

Blackbird runs in the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre from January 15th to February 7th.  Tickets $32 (there is a pay-what-you-can night on January 18th).  Showtimes vary, so visit Renaissance Theaterworks or call 414-291-7800 for more information.  The public is invited to talk-back on January 28th and February 4th.  On January 24th, experts will lead a post-show discussion of the play’s sensitive themes of abuse.