Blackbird is a play written by David Harrower. The play centers on two characters, Ray, a 56-year-old man, and Una, a 27-year-old woman. Una sees a photo of Ray in a magazine and comes to Ray's office, but Una is not a fangirl, she is his sexual abuse victim from 15 years prior. The play delves into the many issues of a "relationship" between a 12-year-old and a 40-year-old, and the effect it had on both parties. The play draws inspiration from the crimes of Toby Studebaker.
The piece premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2005, has been professionally produced in the West End, Sweden, Australia, the Czech Republic, Japan, Singapore, India, Albania, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Wales, Canada, and found its way to Broadway in 2016.
It won the 2006 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland for Best New Play and the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play.
A film adaptation with Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn was released in 2017 under the title Una.
Blackbird provides examples of the following tropes:
- Destructive Romance: A romance between a prior victim and a rapist can only be this.
- May–December Romance: Between Una and Ray.
- Precocious Crush: Ray takes advantage of Una's crush on him.
- Starting a New Life: Ray now goes by the identity "Peter."
