I argue that the social and political climate of the 1980s and 1990s played a direct role in the formation of Kane's theatre, and examine Kane's work and its reception in relation to other playwrights of the time. Dreams also play a role in reliving the event, and people who experience trauma often feel that the moment is being repeated. I will look at the predecessors of In-yer-face Theater and how their own work has served to inform writers of the 1990s.
Look Back in Anger, like the work of Sarah Kane or other In-yer-face dramatists, emerged as a direct result of the political and social climate. Due to the shocking nature of Saved, the play had to achieve 'club' status in order to be performed. This led to the politicization of many gay and lesbian communities against the government.
At the end of the 1980s, the theater was in a sad state and needed to be revived. In this chapter I will discuss In-yerface theatre, how it has been defined and explore the work of some playwrights within this particular genre. It is also important to realize that In-yer-face theater did not exist in a vacuum, but dealt with and was directly influenced by the socio-political climate of the 1990s, themes that most In-yer-face plays explore , were significant. until time.
I would argue that Kane is in a league above many of the young writers writing in the In-yer-face genre – after discussing the work of some of her peers, Kane's appears bolder in her subversion of form and content. Sierz states that it was symptomatic of the 90s that traditional categories of left or right. The core of the play is the brutal violence and aggression, which is never fully explained.
Psychosis
I would like to begin my analysis of Blasted by providing a summary of the play itself. In the second half of the play, an unnamed soldier enters the room; he proceeds to make Ian his hostage. This interpretation works well in the context of the play, where Kane "explodes" previous notions of war and violence and then figuratively and literally "explodes" the lives of the characters and the space they inhabit.
These directions are integral to the meaning of the piece and take on even more significance later when all notions of realism are blown apart. Kane himself notes that form and content seem to be one and that the form determines the meaning of the piece. From this point the piece moves into the realm of surrealism and the form of the piece breaks to allow for this.
Armstrong further argues that through this destabilization, what we understood at the beginning of the play as realism is now blown apart and decontextualized. The collapse of realism is brought about by the soldier turning the violence against Ian, who in the first half of the play had been the perpetrator of a shocking abuse (Saunders, 2002:45). Kane's introduction of the Soldier character and the graphic stories he conveys are shocking and repulsive, though I don't think they're gratuitous.
This erotisation of violence is an important aspect in the play and Kane‟s work which I will return to explore later. Through the Soldier‟s relaying of events Armstrong identifies another important role that his character fulfils in the play. Furthermore the use of the word „cunt‟ is a reminder of Ian and the Soldier‟s erotisation of violence.
Solga sees Cate's experience as a metaphor for the violence we encounter in the second part of the play. This is further exacerbated by Kane's reluctance to provide neat endings, which further add to the unsettling nature of the show. In the last moments of the play, Cate buries the baby with as much dignity as she can afford, despite the terrible circumstances (Armstrong, 2003:103).
In the final moments of the play she feeds Ian in an act of compassion rather than retaliate or put him through the violence she, herself has experienced throughout the play. The play is a journey into the realms of the psyche and explores feelings of alienation, unrequited love, depression and suicide.
Psychosis
Psychosis: Genius or Suicide Note?
The play has been described as a declaration of suicide and a 75 minute suicide note (Billington cited in Saunders yet Saunders maintains (rightly so) that to view the text this way lends itself to too reductive a reading of the play‟s themes and comments (Saunders, 2002:110). Because of the way in which the play is constructed it is not possible to offer a synopsis of its events but rather an idea of the themes it explores. The Biblical allusion in the play harkens back to Kane‟s early struggle with Christianity and her eventual abandonment of religion.
I agree with Armstrong's assessment, but within the context of the show and the feelings of despair that pervade the characters' views on every level, this thought and depiction of the world is incredibly honest and proves Kane's skill once again. to summarize moments of immeasurable pain in a few lines. It is as if we are being allowed to see into her soul and the exposure of color reflects this by exposing her private feelings. The second moment in this version of the show that used color just as effectively is in the final moments where the characters of "The Patient" are set to die.
Because of the language of Kane's script, there is a sense that it requires a production that is aware of the space it occupies. There is no logic in the progression to this moment in the piece and the only allusion to time is the reference '4.48'. Armstrong suggests that in 4.48 Psychosis …time is dissolved to make way for an emotional experience that exists outside the boundaries of reality. habitual consciousness or time marker. I would argue that this contradiction in the character's intentions further adds to the shocking aspect of the play.
This adds to the impact of the tragedy of 4.48 Psychosis and once again alludes to Kane leaving his audience without a neat conclusion. After the fourth repetition follows the line where the break begins, marking the beginning of the end of the piece. The final lines run to the end of the piece, which concludes with the line Please open the curtains (Kane Armstrong suggests that the closing line almost sounds like stage direction, and that the boundary between action(ion) and performance in its delivery has been blurred.
Once again, no neat conclusion can be drawn from the ending; the South African version of the play attempted to create a more rounded denouement by gradually fading the lights centered on the empty desk once occupied by the character who took her life. Before seeing the piece I was concerned that an exploration of suicide could so easily become romanticized and clichéd, but the nature of the writing is not sentimental or saccharine, as Armstrong says, it is the complicated poetry of a fragmented consciousness at its last moments. Armstrong, 2003:225). In her analysis of 4.48 Psychosis, Armstrong suggests that the play is a response to Kane's generations' attempt to reject an existence that has become unbearable (Armstrong, 2003:212).
