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groundbreaking talent lost when Kane committed suicide in 1999. Lyric
Hammersmith Artistic Director Sean Holmes directed the production that starred Danny Webb, Lydia Wilson and Aidan Kelly. The play opens in a hotel room where troubled young woman Cate spends the night with a racist, misogynist, violent journalist. It turns on its head when a soldier bursts into the room, bringing with him an apocalyptic vision, and delivers a brutal comeuppance. The tale of rape, torture, cannibalism and murder triumphed in an eclectic category that also contained Soho theatre's Moscow-set Ivan and the Dogs, the Royal Court's Afghanistan drama The Empire and Chris Rolls's production of Les Parents Terribles, which was staged at the Trafalgar Studios 2 as part of the Donmar Trafalgar season.
226:. Cate returns, describing the city being overrun by soldiers, and bringing with her a baby that she has rescued. The baby dies, and she buries it in a hole in the floorboards and leaves, but not before arguing with Ian about the utility or futility of praying during a burial. The scene ends with the sound of heavy winter rain.
838:
The Lyric
Hammersmith's production of Sarah Kane's Blasted has been crowned 2011's Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. Kane's brutal play, most certainly not one for the faint hearted, played at the West London venue in the autumn of 2010, once again reminding theatregoers of the
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In Scene 3, the hotel room is in ruins; the bomb has blasted a hole in the wall. The soldier and Ian begin to talk, and it is gradually revealed that the hotel is located in the midst of a brutal war. The soldier tells Ian about appalling
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Now "Blasted", whose author died a suicide in 1999, has finally arrived in New York in a first-rate production that opened
Thursday night at the Soho Rep on Walker Street, filling a significant gap in the history of contemporary theater
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The initial performance was highly controversial and the play was fiercely attacked by most newspaper critics, many of whom regarded it as an attempt to shock the audience. However, critics have subsequently reassessed it; for example
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on Ian, biting him. Cate retires to the bathroom. A soldier unexpectedly enters the room brandishing a gun, and finds Cate has escaped through the bathroom window. The hotel room is then struck by a
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165:. Ian, a foul-mouthed middle-aged tabloid journalist has brought a young woman, Cate, to the room for the night. Cate is much younger than Ian, emotionally fragile, and seemingly
219:, and says he has done everything as an act of revenge for the murder of his girlfriend. He then rapes Ian, and sucks out his eyes. The scene ends with the sound of autumn rain.
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First original language production of the play in
Austria, produced by Mental Eclipse Theater House in cooperation with Vienna theatre project.
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broadcast in
January 1995. Hosted by Jeremy Paxman, featuring Daily Mail critic Jack Tinker and Royal Court artistic director Stephen Daldry
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and even hugging the dead soldier for comfort as he starves in the ruined room. Eventually, he crawls into the hole with the dead baby and
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1063:. 3 June 2004. Accessed 25 Feb. 2007. (Paid subscription required for access to full article; only a portion accessible otherwise.)
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237:. The stage direction then reads that Ian dies. It starts raining, and Ian says "Shit". Cate returns, bringing sausage and
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said at her memorial service that she was a poet, and I think that's dead right." After seeing a revival of the play, an
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1997 at Teatro della
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reviewer Annie
Ferguson wrote "How shrill and silly the 1995 hullabaloo and hysteria seemed last night when
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returned to the Royal Court. It is, and always was, a play with a fine, moral purpose." It was listed in
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Throughout Scene 1, Ian tries to seduce Cate, but she resists. All the while, Ian proudly parades his
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A major revival of the play, 15 years on from its debut, by contemporary of
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Laurence
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saw the audience invited into the hotel room Kane set the play within.
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and the Lyric's
Artistic Director Sean Holmes. The production won an
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Translated into German by Nils Tabert. Performed under the title of
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In Scene 4, Ian lies blinded next to the soldier, who has committed
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Scene 5 consists of a series of brief images, showing Ian crying,
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As part of the Sarah Kane season with staged productions of
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with Cate during one of her fits. Afterwards, Cate performs
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Love Me or Kill Me: Sarah Kane and the
Theatre of Extremes
648:. Royal Court Theatre Productions Limited. 12 January 1995
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The Royal Court revival which received positive reviews.
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bomb, and the scene ends with the sound of summer rain.
241:. The blood seeping down her legs implies that she has
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Produced in its authentic setting, this production by
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for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.
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paid for this by having sex with the soldiers outside
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JERWOOD THEATRE DOWNSTAIRS 29 March - 28 April 2001"
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161:The play is set in an expensive hotel room in
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1006:"The 40 best plays to read before you die"
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1052:. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester UP, 2002.
701:. Royal Court Theatre Productions Limited
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344:Also performed 7th-11th Nov 2006 at the
145:. It was first performed in 1995 at the
141:is the first play by the British author
734:Billington, Michael (8 November 2006).
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977:Sarah Kane and the Theatre of Extremes
879:"Sarah Kane Season Sheffield Theatres"
7:
642:"Blasted at The Royal Court Theatre"
853:"Sarah Kane: a Blast from the past"
384:2008 site-specific Leeds production
723:webpage on the Schaubuehne website
621:as one of the 40 best plays ever.
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753:Gardner, Lyn (20 February 2008).
824:. 13 March 2011. Archived from
789:"Humanity Gets Only a Bit Part"
428:, New York City, New York, U.S.
907:(in German). 28 September 2019
877:Evans, Daniel (29 July 2015).
306:Royal Court Theatre Downstairs
1:
691:"REVIEWS OF PAST PRODUCTIONS
310:Directed by James Macdonald.
254:World premiere (London, 1995)
931:Mental Eclipse Theater House
556:and semi-staged readings of
420:New York premiere production
260:Royal Court Theatre Upstairs
147:Royal Court Theatre Upstairs
89:Royal Court Theatre Upstairs
42:Cover of the Methuen edition
334:2005-2006 German production
326:Soldier - Tom Jordan Murphy
126:An expensive hotel room in
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1038:. London: Methuen (2001),
1036:Sarah Kane: Complete Plays
670:. London: Methuen (2001),
668:Sarah Kane: Complete Plays
18:
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1061:The Literary Encyclopedia
578:Directed by Tom Crawley.
507:2015 Sheffield production
284:Soldier - Dermot Kerrigan
73:12 January 1995
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1290:Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
1074:BBC Newsnight report on
952:"vienna theatre project"
19:For the video game, see
927:"Blasted by Sarah Kane"
402:Ian - Mark Taylor Batty
258:12 January 1995 at the
787:Brantley, Ben (2008),
693:BLASTED by Sarah Kane
572:2019 at TheaterArche,
568:2019 Vienna production
699:royalcourttheatre.com
646:Royalcourttheatre.com
167:intellectually simple
1310:Fishamble for Silent
736:"Blasted (Zerbombt)"
408:Soldier - Ash Layton
405:Cate - Mariel Kaplan
21:Blasted (video game)
1379:Plays by Sarah Kane
458:2010 London revival
372:Katharina Schüttler
338:16th March 2005 at
300:2001 London revival
249:Notable productions
1341:No Ceremony (2021)
1048:Saunders, Graham.
987:Simon Hattenstone,
883:Sheffield Theatres
793:The New York Times
599:Michael Billington
585:Critical reception
342:, Berlin, Germany.
16:Play by Sarah Kane
1389:1990s debut plays
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822:Olivierawards.com
464:Lyric Hammersmith
414:19;29 Performance
358:Thomas Ostermeier
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99:Original language
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857:The Guardian
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517:Directed by
511:2015 at the
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484:Lydia Wilson
468:Directed by
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432:Sarah Benson
430:Directed by
424:2008 at the
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394:Directed by
392:, Leeds, UK.
390:Queens Hotel
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322:Kelly Reilly
316:Neil Dudgeon
304:2001 at the
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490:Aidan Kelly
470:Sean Holmes
440:Reed Birney
366:Ulrich Mühe
274:Pip Donaghy
1384:1995 plays
1373:Categories
1351:The P Word
1345:Old Bridge
1297:Handbagged
1250:Pied Piper
1168:Short film
1115:Sarah Kane
961:12 October
936:12 October
911:12 October
862:21 October
772:21 October
537:Soldier -
497:Sarah Kane
488:Soldier -
478:Danny Webb
450:Soldier -
376:Soldier -
340:Schaubühne
205:atrocities
182:homophobia
143:Sarah Kane
77:1995-01-12
58:Characters
52:Sarah Kane
48:Written by
1324:Killology
1317:Rotterdam
1264:The Pride
1113:Works by
1057:"Blasted"
901:"BLASTED"
798:1 January
767:0261-3077
755:"Blasted"
1357:Sleepova
1284:Roadkill
1144:Cleansed
993:Guardian
832:16 April
705:13 April
652:16 April
562:Cleansed
462:2010 at
444:Cate -
426:Soho Rep
388:2008 at
352:Zerbombt
346:Barbican
217:genocide
193:oral sex
189:frottage
174:misogyny
157:Synopsis
1277:Blasted
1130:Blasted
1076:Blasted
721:Blasted
613:Blasted
546:Blasted
531:Cate -
482:Cate -
370:Cate -
320:Cate -
278:Cate -
235:eats it
224:suicide
213:torture
138:Blasted
123:Setting
109:Subject
103:English
75: (
65:Soldier
31:Blasted
1359:(2024)
1353:(2023)
1347:(2022)
1338:(2020)
1332:(2019)
1326:(2018)
1320:(2017)
1312:(2016)
1306:(2015)
1300:(2014)
1292:(2013)
1286:(2012)
1280:(2011)
1272:(2010)
1266:(2009)
1260:(2008)
1252:(2007)
1246:(2006)
1238:(2005)
1232:(2004)
1042:
1016:9 June
765:
674:
525:Ian -
476:Ian -
438:Ian -
364:Ian -
314:Ian -
272:Ian -
197:mortar
178:racism
151:London
93:London
1151:Crave
1122:Plays
805:here.
625:Notes
550:Crave
163:Leeds
128:Leeds
1304:Bull
1270:Cock
1176:Skin
1040:ISBN
1018:2020
963:2019
938:2019
913:2019
864:2016
834:2012
800:2015
774:2016
763:ISSN
707:2009
672:ISBN
654:2012
560:and
552:and
215:and
209:rape
180:and
130:, UK
63:Cate
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239:gin
149:in
113:War
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