Harrower refuses to let the audience off easy. By humanizing Ray and giving Una aggressive, non-victim-like traits, the play forces the audience to confront uncomfortable feelings. It challenges the binary labels of "monster" and "victim," suggesting that human psychology is far messier than criminal law allows.
At its core, Blackbird is a two-hander (though often performed with a third, silent character). The setup is deceptively simple. Ray, a middle-aged man, is discovered hiding in the break room of the factory where he works. He has just been tracked down by Una, a young woman in her twenties. Fifteen years earlier, when Una was 12 and Ray was 40, they had a sexual relationship, fled together, and were caught. Ray was imprisoned. Now, Una has found him again. blackbird david harrower