Blackbird (KXT on Broadway) ★★★

Written by David Harrower. HER Productions. KXT on Broadway. 25 Jun – 5 Jul, 2025.

David Harrower’s acclaimed, intense 2005 play, Blackbird, won’t be for everyone. It’s a complex tale of child sexual abuse that plunges into murky emotional waters. I understand why performers are drawn to it, but some audiences may find it difficult to watch.

Una (Charlotte De Wit) has ambushed Ray (Phil McGrath) at his workplace. They haven’t seen each other in 15 years. Ray has moved on, changed his name, and started a new life. Una, however, remains fixated on their shared past, obsessing over details he wants to leave behind. When she was only 12, Ray had sex with her. Now, after he served a prison sentence, she is forcing him to confront the past once again.

Harrower’s script is a knotty affair, exploring the grey areas of a situation many see as simply black and white. While Ray’s criminality is never in doubt, his motivations—and our assumptions—are questioned. Una, too, is a tangle of conflicting impulses, which steer the story through unexpected twists. It’s a smart, well-structured narrative, and it’s easy to see why it has been praised across Europe and America.

Although the play is relatively short (just 75 minutes) it can feel longer. This is partly due to the static staging, set in a bland, generic office common room, and partly because of the heavy subject matter. Despite the script’s dynamism, this production struggles to capture its nuance. The performances and direction lack the subtlety needed to fully reveal the humanity of these psychologically complex characters. Both are deeply scarred by their pasts, wrestling with confusing and conflicting desires. Some moments in the third act seem designed merely to shock and are telegraphed too far in advance.

Nonetheless, this is powerful material that dares to get messy and push the audience into uncomfortable territory. It’s a bold script that rewards engagement, even if this particular production doesn’t quite reach the heights of the text.