[NEOPAL]Blackbird Soars...ABJ Review

[bangandclatter at netzero.net]

Posted on Mon, Mar. 20, 2006

`Blackbird' presents sad reality Gritty, brutal love story about two peo=
ple in pain has moments of humor, sweetness and squalor.

By Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal staff writer

At the Bang and the Clatter's regional premiere of Blackbird, many of th=
e play's most powerful moments occur when no words are spoken.
This grim two-character play by Adam Rapp takes place in a dreary New Yo=
rk apartment on Christmas Eve, between incontinent Desert Storm vet Bayl=
is (Sean Derry) and teenage junkie Froggy, who's suffering from hepatiti=
s.

These two derelicts, reduced to the limited world of Baylis' apartment s=
qualor, have only each other. The play has plenty of bitter humor and so=
me sweet humor, too, arising from the childishly inane imaginings of Fro=
ggy (Alanna Romansky). They make a funny kind of sense, like little kids=
 do.

One scene had me laughing so hard at Froggy's silly little girl comments=
, I could barely contain myself. In another, Baylis' tenderness toward F=
roggy had me in tears.

Blackbird is supposed to take place within a smoke-filled haze, but BNC =
didn't have that option. Since the theater operates inside a county buil=
ding, the recently passed county smoking ban trounces that stage directi=
on.

It certainly changes the tone to not have Froggy constantly bumming a ci=
garette (for the most part, the best fix she can get) from Baylis.
Both the visceral pain and the sad love driving this story become a kick=
 in the gut for audiences under Derry's spell. As Baylis, this highly ta=
lented actor portrays everything from bitterness to loving bemusement to=
 utter agony.

Froggy reads like an immature, ignorant woman-child. But Romansky's inco=
nsistent characterization vacillates between a worldly, matter-of-fact, =
in-your-face type who doesn't seem so pathetic to a dreamy, girlish type=
. The actress is at her best when she shows Froggy's girlish vulnerabili=
ty. One would imagine Froggy, with her ailment, to look wan and waif-lik=
e. But Romansky is fit and her face has a healthy color.

Adults-only fare
The play, which is Rapp's first love story, was first produced in London=
 in 2001. The Off-Broadway production, directed by the playwright, was s=
aid to have played out in explicit depiction.
BNC director Sean McConaha and his actors don't hold back with Blackbird=
's gritty ugliness -- both in language and action. If anything, actor De=
rry improvises to add the ``F-bomb'' quite a bit more than the script ca=
lls for, and sometimes that becomes redundant.
McConaha also has made the judgment call to present the play's male nudi=
ty in a much more subtle manner than the script calls for. But he still =
gets the point across about Baylis' physical ailments.
The slum-like set by Derry is awesome, ushering theatergoers into the wo=
rld of the play from the moment they walk in. Audiences sit on either si=
de of the rectangular apartment in what the set designer describes as a =
tennis-court configuration.

This production, where so much of what's unspoken is important, is plagu=
ed by some slow spots. At times, the pauses opening night may have been =
because of problems with the actors remembering their lines. Early in th=
e play, problems with sound timing also were an issue.

This contemporary play is adults-only fare, with brutal language and dep=
iction of drug use. Rapp has his characters speaking and behaving like d=
own-and-out people really speak and behave. But the heart of the story r=
ises above the ugliness.

About the bird
Does the blackbird repeatedly pecking at Baylis' tenement window symboli=
ze the persistence of the human heart -- a sort of freedom amid squalor?=
 Or is it a symbol of death, pecking away at each of these characters? F=
roggy embraces the blackbird, while Baylis hates it.

That symbolism is up to audiences to explore.
While these characters' love ultimately may not be redeeming, it's real.=
 The play leaves one contemplating the many desperate individuals who li=
ve on the fringe of society. In Rapp's writing, love can exist even in t=
he most sordid of circumstances.