Blasted author sees a posthumous NT debut

This 1998 play by the late Sarah Kane(1971 – 1999) of Blasted notoriety sees a new revival at the Dorfman Theatre in 2016, directed by Katie Mitchell. Not for the faint-hearted, Cleansed displays Kane's visceral use of stage violence and torture to explore themes of love and pain within her character. This play takes place in a university that has been transformed into a dark,cruel institution that is akin to a concentration camp, and centers around the diabolical character Tinker who inflicts torture upon its various inhabitants. But even he is in need of love, which he finds in Katie. But can he suppress his cruel urges to make it work?

Katie and her brother live with a disturbed boy, a gay couple and a peepshow dancer within a harsh world masquerading as a university, and have to put up with various cruelties by its overseer Tinker. But within this awful existence, love is tested to its breaking point between the inhabitants - and Tinker himself.

Conveying Kane's darkest thoughts

The darkness conveyed in this play and Kanr's others included Blasted, Skin and Crave have divided critics in this country, which led to many of them only performed to small audiences, yet finding popularity in Europe and in South America due to their powerful and unsettling scenes. Battling with depression for much of her life, Kane originally wanted to pursue a career in poetry, but found that theatre was a more effective conduit for her feelings. Her work therefore is recognised today by students and more modern critics to push the boundaries of stage direction.