"Blackbird" at the Albery

The play opens in one of those sparse rooms in a factory where the staff eat their packed lunches and take breaks drinking from styrofoam cups. There is litter and detritus everywhere. Into this room burst a man and a young woman. He is dressed conservatively in shirt and tie - she provocatively. For the next two enthralling hours (without interval) the two circle each other physically and metaphorically sorting through the litter of the room and the litter in their lives. We learn that he had sex with her when she was only twelve. The accusations and recriminations fly backwards and forwards at an emotional intensity that draw the audience in despite any reservations that may be held. At first we are like the other workers in the factory who peer in through the window lined corridor that forms the back wall of the set. Occasionally a worker will enter the room to use the locker emanating silent disapproval but not wishing to be involved personally. The audience finds itself doing the same but the play, the production and the performances do not allow such luxury. Your loyalty, sympathy and antipathy swing between the two characters as the play progresses and we are shown what a tangled web is woven from a simple act such as attending a neighbour's barbecue. Peter Stein is an acknowledged director and the naturalistic treatment of a taboo subject is tempered with an expert knowledge of theatricality. Not once during the performance are you aware of the director's hand - you are only interested in the characters- but at the curtain call and afterwards you begin to appreciate the artistry that brought the play to such vibrant life. The casting of Roger Allam and Jodhi May is inspired and a union made in heaven; although their characters occupy a hell of their own making. Roger Allam is undoubtedly one of the great English classical actors with a marvellous voice. Here he creates an utterly believable man whose speech patterns, demeanour and thinking reveal and conceal a complex character. We want to loathe this man but the journey of discovery is much rougher than that both for the character, actor and audience. This is a magnificent performance by Mr Allam! Jodhi May's character began theatrically with deep thrilling notes generated from a slim and shapely frame. I was distracted both by the voice, the costume and the figure. I thought the theatricality was that of the actress but as the evening progressed learned that it came from the character. What a complex and disturbing performance Miss May provides that turns our perceptions upside down and inside out. David Harrower has created an insight into two people and their lives that defies the mob's unthinking reaction, the pulpit bashing and the moral tut-tutting. "Blackbird" reminds us of the dangers of judging people from a distance and there but for the grace of God...