Blackbird Question (WITH SPOILERS)

I know the show is closing in 4 performances, but I still want to give the SPOILER WARNING:

So, my friend and I saw this last evening and we left with two completely different views.  I felt for both characters and totally believed Ray.  After talking about the play afterwards, my friend told me she didn't believe him for a second.  I can't believe I never doubted him the whole play.  I felt a little stupid for believing him so steadfastly.  

What did other people think upon leaving?  Now I just keep thinking about it, which I'm sure is the point, but I'm just curious if other people were as easily (perhaps) fooled as I was.

 

 

 

I think everything about this play (as written) can be interpreted a thousand different ways. From why is she there (to get him back? to ruin his life? to kill him?) to the twist at the very end. I think it's up to the director and the two actors to have a clear sense of everything in their process. I think this production was marvelous in not making everything crystal clear. 

The original UK production had an extra scene with no spoken words that the director put in against the playwright's wishes. Does anybody know what happened in that scene? I can't seem to find any information on it

I think if Ray were entirely innocent, he would have told Una that his girlfriend (or wife, I can't remember) has a daughter. He purposely told her only about the woman he's involved with, not the daughter. My interpretation is that something is going on with the young girl. And I think that's Una's conclusion too.

I don't think Ray was raping The Girl, but I do think her presence opens the question of whether he is grooming her for sexual abuse in the future, and shows that Ray was almost surely lying to Una when he said that his girlfriend knew what happened, and that he didn't have/wasn't around children

I need some time to ponder the OP's question since as nasty_khakis points out, there are lots of different ways of interpreting it, and I've moved through many different interpretations since seeing the show. So I'll be back to say something more about that. I do want to comment on the arrival of the young girl near the end of the play. I think the reason it comes as such a shock to the audience (eliciting audible gasps) is that in addition to revealing Ray's lies, it is an incredibly stark reminder of just how YOUNG Una was when events unfolded between them. Until the arrival of the girl on stage, one can almost picture Una the way that Ray describes her, or even some of the ways she describes herself, but the whole time - throughout her riveting performance - we see an adult (albeit a broken one) in front of us. Seeing the girl compels the audience to remember that Una was just a kid when everything happened. It's a shocking and extremely effective moment for that reason.

Yes, and the actress who plays the girl is 14 years old, possibly 15 by now. So you can imagine a 12-year-old. 

And even further, I think the fact that he never told his wife that he was going to come back for Una that night and that it was a longer 'relationship' says something else, too. He's maybe afraid to admit that to her and maybe even himself, although he told Una that in private.

sondheimite2 said: "II think the reason it comes as such a shock to the audience (eliciting audible gasps) is that in addition to revealing Ray's lies, it is an incredibly stark reminder of just how YOUNG Una was when events unfolded between them. Until the arrival of the girl on stage, one can almost picture Una the way that Ray describes her, or even some of the ways she describes herself, but the whole time - throughout her riveting performance - we see an adult (albeit a broken one) in front of us. Seeing the girl compels the audience to remember that Una was just a kid when everything happened. It's a shocking and extremely effective moment for that reason."

I agree completely. Though the subject matter is so disturbing, as an audience member, you can't help but be drawn to the characters and their interpretation of the events. Then the stepdaughter arrives, and it's a gut punch to the stomach because it forces the audience to confront the visceral reality that Una was a CHILD and that NONE of this is okay.

It reminded me so much of Lolita - the prose is so seductive and effective, but at the end of the day you're following an unreliable account told by a pedophile abuser.