Blackbird, the controversial and thought-provoking drama by Scottish playwright David Harrower has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play.
The Peter Stein-directed play was originally commissioned for the 2005 Edinburgh International Festival, where it was a huge hit. It received the Best Play Award in the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, and transferred to the Albery, where it ran between 13 February and 13 May. Since then, it has been produced in Germany and Austria, with further productions planned in 17 other countries. Next month it receives its American premiere when it opens in New York, with Wicked’s Joe Mantello directing.
Edinburgh-born Harrower has built up a reputation as one of Scotland’s best theatre writers, with plays such as Knives In Hens, Presence, Dark Earth, and Meyer Whitworth Prize winner Kill The Old Torture Their Young. He has also written many stage adaptations, including Six Characters In Search Of An Author, Ivanov and Woyzek.
Stein is one of the world’s foremost theatre directors. In 1987 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director for his National Theatre production of The Hairy Ape.
The London production of Blackbird featured the original Edinburgh cast of Roger Allam and Jodhi May reprising their roles in the tense drama about an under-age relationship between a 12-year-old girl and an older man.
JFC
