"From first to last [the] play is concerned with sexual and physical violence. (…) Nobody (…) will deny that it is the function of the theatre to reflect the horrific undercurrents of contemporary life. But it cannot be allowed, even in the name of freedom of speech, to do so without aim, purpose or meaning." "[The play] isn’t just disgusting, it’s pathetic (…) a lazy, tawdry piece of work without an idea in its head beyond an adolescent desire to shock."
Accusations like these give evidence of how emotional, outraged, and hysterical theatre critics react when challenged by unexpectedly shocking and indigestible performances. It may come as a surprise that the above extracts are neither part of one single critique, nor do they refer to one single play. The first quote refers to Edward Bond’s Saved (1965), whereas the second one refers to the late Sarah Kane’s Blasted (1995). Not incidentally, both playwrights were accused by numerous irritated critics of committing the same unacceptable affront: They were reproached for depicting the most disgusting forms of violence on stage, merely for the sake of paying tribute to violence itself. ....
“Violence shapes and ob¬sesses our society, and if we do not stop being violent we have no future (…) It would be immoral not to write about violence” (Bond 1978: 3). Although accepting and in fact admiring Bond’s decision to comment on his own work, Sarah Kane was always very reluctant about making “authorised” statements concerning her work. Nevertheless, she did provide equally comprehensible or even convincing reasons for putting violence on stage: “If you are saying you can’t represent something, you are saying you can’t talk about it, you are denying its existence, and that’s an extraordinarily ignorant thing to do.”
Yet, paradoxical as it might seem,considering this apparent commitment to the representation of violence, violence is only a marginal topic in all of Kane’s plays. ...
Based on an analysis of the 1998 play Cleansed, this paper aims at a reassessment and revaluation of Sarah Kane’s work: Violence – both physical and emotional – is an important ingredient, and yet only a minor theme in the plays. It is dominated by the all-encompassing theme of love. Love and violence, however, are not examined as two separate individual experiences. On the contrary, it is their overlapping that is scrutinised.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
A fresh approach to the plays of Sarah Kane
2. Cleansed and Crave: Love versus Violence
3. Conclusion
Among sex and violence: real art and real heart
Objectives and Topics
This paper aims to provide a re-assessment and revaluation of Sarah Kane’s dramatic work, specifically focusing on the 1998 play Cleansed. It challenges the common critical emphasis on the explicit, gory violence in her plays by arguing that violence serves only as a minor theme or ingredient, while the work is fundamentally dominated by the all-encompassing theme of love. The research scrutinizes the complex, inseparable overlapping of love and violence rather than treating them as separate experiences.
- The role of violence as an "experiential" rather than "speculative" element in theatre.
- The oscillation between naturalistic realism and symbolism in Kane’s stage directions.
- Love as an absolute value and a basis for hope under extreme conditions.
- The concept of "cross-gendering" and the dissolution of identity through obsessive love.
- Tinker as the personified, upsetting link between love and abuse.
Excerpt from the Book
2. Cleansed and Crave: Love versus Violence
Because love and violence are not dealt with separately, a few arguments concerning the distressing (omni-)presence of often explicit and gory violence in the plays of Sarah Kane must be mentioned before elaborating on the complex theme of love.
In view of the outrageous critiques that welcomed Kane’s early plays, it is remarkable to note that none of the gruesome stage directions in Kane’s plays (that were held responsible for triggering off this outcry) are original in the sense that they had not been put on stage before.
Sex and violence are scarcely new in theatre. The greatest of the ancient Greek tragedies deal with extreme states of mind: brutal deaths and terrible suicides, agonizing pain and dreadful suffering, human sacrifice and cannibalism, rape and incest, mutilations and humiliations. (Sierz 2000: 10).
More recent examples for stage violence are found without difficulty, too: With Edward Bond’s Lear, eye-gouging (cf. Blasted) had been put on stage, adding to the mutilation of a character (cf. Cleansed); in his earlier play Saved a baby was not eaten, but stoned to death, which at the time caused an equivalent public scandal as the act of cannibalism in Blasted; in Howard Brenton’s The Romans in Britain, anal rape (cf. Blasted, Cleansed) was first put on stage while Britain was displayed as a war zone as in Blasted. Admittedly, (naturalistic) onstage presentations of (both homo- and hetero-)sexual intercourse, vomiting, masturbating, or drug-injection were still fairly new developments in the theatre – yet, even with those one cannot speak of Sarah Kane as their originator.
Chapter Summaries
1. Introduction: This chapter contextualizes the critical reception of Sarah Kane's plays, highlighting the tension between the media's obsession with violence and the author's intention to explore themes of love and hope.
2. Cleansed and Crave: Love versus Violence: This section analyzes how Kane’s plays blend love and violence through symbolic stagecraft and complex character dynamics, positing that these elements are inextricably linked rather than binary opposites.
3. Conclusion: The concluding chapter summarizes the argument that Kane's work should be viewed through the lens of her obsession with love's survival in a cruel world, rather than merely as shocking examples of theatrical gore.
Keywords
Sarah Kane, Cleansed, Crave, Love, Violence, In-Yer-Face Theatre, Symbolism, Realism, Obsession, Betrayal, Identity, Theatre criticism, Stage violence, Gender, Trauma.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this academic work?
The work focuses on re-evaluating the plays of Sarah Kane, specifically Cleansed and Crave, to shift the perspective from their violent exterior to their central theme of love.
What are the primary thematic fields addressed?
The paper explores the intersection of love and violence, the loss of self in obsessive relationships, the use of symbols in theatre, and the influence of critical reception on the interpretation of dramatic works.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to prove that violence is a minor component in Kane’s work, which is instead dominated by an exploration of love's endurance, even under the most brutal conditions.
Which scientific methods does the author use?
The author employs a text-based analytical approach, examining stage directions, character relationships, and the "symbolic level" of the plays, while also contrasting these with external theatre criticism and production history.
What is discussed in the main body?
The main body examines the structural techniques Kane uses to blend love and violence, analyzes specific character couples (like Grace and Graham, Carl and Rod), and discusses the ambiguous role of the antagonist, Tinker.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
Key terms include Sarah Kane, love, violence, symbolism, obsession, identity, and the "In-Yer-Face" theatrical movement.
How does the author interpret the extreme violence in Cleansed?
The author argues that violence in Cleansed is not intended for shock value alone; rather, it serves as a symbolic instrument to dissect human emotions like unity and salvation under the worst possible conditions.
What is the significance of the character Tinker in this analysis?
Tinker is analyzed as an amorphous, omnipresent figure who functions as the "personified link" between love and abuse, acting as both torturer and, eventually, a character who himself yearns for love.
- Quote paper
- Hanna Kubowitz (Author), 2003, Love Me or Kill Me, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/177074
