Sarah Kane – In-yer-face theatre

London, January 1995. A cold rain slicks the streets of Sloane Square as theatergoers file into the tiny upstairs auditorium of the Royal Court Theatre. They don’t know quite what they’re in for, but rumors have been swirling: a new play by a 23-year-old woman that is supposed to be shocking beyond belief. The lights dim, and Blasted begins. On stage, a hotel room is meticulously realized: floral bedspread, room service tray, the soft buzz of a TV in the background. A middle-aged man, heavyset and rough around the edges, enters with a young woman, nervous and wary. The first scene proceeds almost like a conventional drama—an uneasy seduction-cum-power-struggle between Ian, a foul-mouthed tabloid journalist, and Cate, a frail, childlike woman in her twenties. The audience settles in, thinking perhaps this wil ...