Review- Blackbird at Renaissance

 David Harrower’s Blackbird, which opened this weekend at Renaissance Theaterworks, speeds through the rolling hills of its subject matter with nary a speed bump and only a few caution signs. We’re in the back seat, and the nail-biting discomfort we feel is due both to the speed and the terrain. In the front seat are Peter and Una, a reunited couple who were lovers 15 years ago. Now, Peter is pushing 60 and Una is in her late 20s—so yes, it’s not your usual Sunday drive.
We’re not really sure where we’re headed, which is a big part of the discomfort we feel. Una has surprised Peter at his place of work. They haven’t seen each other since the affair, which was followed by an arrest, trial, jail time and a new identity for Peter. The show opens with sputtered shock and incomplete thoughts, Mamet-like fragments without the music. The genius of Harrower’s play how he lets these characters live in their own skins, without the promise of some imposed wisdom or epiphany. Power shifts, conflicting stories about last meeting are reconciled, tone modulates from anger to tenderness to even flickerings of rekindled desire.
They are two demanding roles, and Renaissance gives two of Wisconsin’s finest actors a chance to tackle them. Brian Mani and Carrie Coon don’t shy away from the unrelenting journey the play offers. As the power balance shifts between the characters, you can see them struggle to hold their ground, make some sense of the past (and present, as well). There are moments that are mesmerizing, others that are infuriating. But there is never a doubt that you’re watching two people trying to negotiate a landscape that is impossible to navigate.
Director Susan Fete, who brought a similar sense of emotional power to Renaissance’s production of Fat Pig, is adept at giving her actors a loose tether. I only wish she hadn’t driven the play at such an unrelenting pace. A play like this, no matter how explosive, needs the occasional breath to help both audience and actors get their bearings and process the events.