A provocative play can take you to places you don’t expect, says Michael Evan Haney, assistant artistic director at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. That’s exactly what happened to him and what he expects will grab audiences who come to see David Harrower’s Blackbird. It’s a new work, winner of London’s Olivier Award for best play in 2006 (besting the formidable competition of Frost/Nixon and Tom Stoppard’s Rock & Roll) and a hit at New York’s Manhattan Theatre Club in March 2007.
It’s just two people — Una is in her mid-twenties and Ray in his mid-fifties. After 15 years, Una has located Ray to confront him about an illegal sexual relationship that had that put him in prison. The entire story happens in a trash-littered lunchroom, a workplace where Ray is trying to put his life back together. But Una hasn’t been able to move on. Haney is staging the show with two actors new to Cincinnati audiences, Joy Farmer-Clary and John Ottavino.
Tuesday-Sunday through March 8 at the Playhouse.
Read Rick Pender's interview with Haney about Blackbird here and Tom McElfresh's review here.
