Photo Flash: BLACKBIRD With William Petersen At Victory Gardens Theater

With Blackbird, William Petersen, former star of CBS-TV's CSI, returns to the theater where he first earned his Equity card to tackle a role that echoes his earliest work on Chicago's stages playing morally damaged characters in In the Belly of the Beast, The Night of the Iguana, and Flyovers.

British vernacular for "jailbird," Blackbird is a real-time account of the awkward reunion of Ray and Una, 15 years after a passionate affair when he was 40 and she was a minor. Ray is confronted with his past when Una arrives unannounced at his workplace. Guilt, rage and raw emotions run high as they recollect their forbidden relationship. In the end, Blackbird has a devastating effect that will leave audiences stunned.

Commissioned in 2005 by the Edinburgh International Festival, Blackbird was the surprise winner of the 2007 Olivier Award, beating stiff competition like Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll and Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon. Blackbird premiered in the U.S. in April 2007 at Manhattan Theater Club, directed by Broadway veteran Joe Mantello, starring Alison Pill and Jeff Daniels.

For tickets and more information visit http://victorygardens.org/content/node/614

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