See it if You like serious drama
Don't see it if if you are easily offended, since it deals with serious subject matter, child abuse
See it if you want to be amazed, shocked, etc.
Don't see it if Can't think of a reason not to see it
See it if You're looking for something new, dark and edgy. I left the theatre shaken, emotional and raw. Profound work. Complex emotions.
Don't see it if Dark subject matter. The play is heavy but I was captivated the entire time. Not appropriate for kids. Not light or fluffy.
See it if you want to see an emotional tour de force! I rated this 100 but it made uncomfortable, anxious and glad I saw two remarkable performances
Don't see it if you're uncomfortable with extremely strong language, violent sexual situations or if you're more of "Disney" show person.
See it if you want to see great actors doing what they do best. Amazing show that will carry you on a thought provoking journey
Don't see it if you don't want to sit and deal with molestation and humans falling apart at the seams
See it if You want to see two great actors chew up the stage. Jeff Daniels was amazing in this powerful production about child sex abuse
Don't see it if You don't like plays with serious intense themes
See it if You like great acting. These were two of the best performances on Broadway in many years.
Don't see it if You want a light frothy night at the theater.
See it if Want to see some incredible performances about a very taboo subject. You like arguments in small spaces. You like very personal details.
Don't see it if You can't handle discussing abuse. Don't like heavy subject matter. Don't like interesting acting choices.
"Harrower's writing has its studied aspects, from the clipped, nervously evasive dialogue of the early exchanges to the tidy juxtaposition of the monologues that strip both characters bare. But Mantello and his remarkable actors give this slow-burning, real-time drama fluidity and searing emotional heat. Chipping away at our preconceptions while forcing Ray and Una into inescapable corners of darkest self-knowledge, the play packs a visceral punch."
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"This drama—which I regard as one of the best pieces of writing of the last decade—offers the uncompromising actress Williams the rare opportunity to contort body and soul into a character...Not a moment feels inauthentic or not rooted in something deeply true...What's missing in [Daniels'] work is, in fact, the requisite superficial attractiveness of his guy...These two performances don't always fully jell as a single entity."
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"What [Williams] pulls off in David Harrower’s 2005 drama is shattering...Their encounter takes unexpected turns and the language is disturbingly frank. By play’s end, 80 minutes later, both actors look drained. You’ll be shocked, yet strangely elated — the sign of powerful theater."
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"The play itself, for all its explicitness of language, is somewhat unadventurous in scope. The material is self-evidently dark but the presentation is unrelentingly glum and lifeless...The play feels too severe and clandestine for such a big house...The reason why audiences are drawn to the drama is because of the two plumb roles that offer a pair of performers the ultimate emotional tussle. Williams and Daniels are more than up to the challenge of going down the play’s very dark road."
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"Daniels has graduated to brilliant in the Broadway premiere at the Belasco. Here he shares the stage with the intensely captivating Michelle Williams, in a production by Mantello that perfectly calibrates the volatile sexual chemistry of the leads...They fight to a draw, leaving us even more disturbed by a play that unsettles us not by telling us what to think but by provoking within us feelings that are impossible to reconcile."
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"It is a lean and muscular piece of drama, where two emotionally damaged characters with a terrible past are brought together for an uncomfortable reunion that is sure to end in further disaster and trauma. Mantello once again shows how he can draw out fully-developed performances from great actors that are both believable and richly detailed. The interplay between Daniels and Williams could not be rawer or more dramatically charged."
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"Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams leave it all on the floor in this wrenching two-hander…Director Joe Mantello and Jeff Daniels first tackled this play nine years ago, and they are back again alongside Michelle Williams, who matches their intensity with a performance that leaves you worried for her mental health...'Blackbird' is not exactly the kind of play you 'enjoy,' but with this production, it is theatre at its purest, as classic in its own way as those famous Greek tragedies."
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"'Blackbird' is a difficult play to watch, one that provokes both tears and audible gasps as secrets are revealed and shocks dispatched. As much as Harrower lets us see the complexities of Ray and Una, it's Daniels and Williams who let us into the raw, emotional nakedness of their characters...By the time the play ends, Daniels and Williams look as though they've been run over by a bulldozer. As the audience files out, we realize we feel the same. This is one unforgettable night at the theater."
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