Dramatic story of forbidden love and heartache

9:25am Friday 18th April 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

RAW, distressing, steely and relentless. According to the critics, David Grindley's revival of Blackbird, at Malvern next month, has a slow-burning intensity that nags away in the memory like the mental equivalent of a toothache.' David Harrower's drama has haunted audiences since it premiered in 2005. The unsettling story, emotional in the real sense of the word, follows a 27-year-old woman, Una, who tracks down a man from her past. Fifteen years ago Una, then 12, and Ray, then 40, had an affair which ended with Ray abandoning her in a hotel. For his crime, Ray went to prison and has since attempted to rebuild his life. What shocks most is the idea that this was a love affair, rather than predatory paedophilia.

Taking the difficult roles in this revival are TV favourites Robert Daws and Dawn Steele.

"It is an amazing play and parts like Una don't come along that often," said Steele, best known for playing Lexie in BBC's Monarch Of The Glen. "Fear made me want to do the play, along with the brilliant writing and working with the director David Grindley. Una is a complex character, she's not really moved on from the events which took place 15 years ago. Headstrong, determined, funny - she had all the credentials for having a fulfilled life but because of what happened with Ray it completely changed the course of it and we now see her - a lonely, withdrawn and quiet girl, a shadow of what could have been."

Daws - star of ITV's The Royal - was equally keen to tackle the heavyweight role.

"The character of Ray is an extremely complex one to portray," he said.

"He is a man who has committed an appalling act that has devastated his life and caused pain to the very person he wanted to protect. As an actor you must try to present a character without judgment. To think and reason as they do. Is he a man who fell in love and lost his moral conscience? Or is he something more sinister?

Blackbird is at the Malvern Theatres from Tuesday, April 29, to Saturday, May 3. For tickets call the box office on 01684 892277 or visit www.malvern-theatres.co.uk.