Sarah Kane’s Blasted, this was the first in-yer-face drama I had ever seen. I had heard the stories before about what to expect having read about her plays in class but nothing can compare to seeing it live in the theatre with the actors merely a few feet away from you. When you think about all the things that occur on that stage, nudity, rape, war, cannibalism and death, those are things most people have already been exposed to through film, television or books. Perhaps not all at the same time but we all know that those dark aspects of human life have and do exist. I think the reason this play is so powerful is because of how you are exposed to it. Although it is easy to say that if you are overwhelmed by the play you can walk out, it is not easy to do this as say flipping the television off, switching the channel or putting down that book. Having to see this live is probably the most powerful method in trying to share and getting your point of view across. Even if you stand up to leave or close your eyes you can still hear the screams, the profanity and the pain of the actors on your way out.
After much discussion with my fellow classmates I was able to hear what parts of the play were harder to take in for everyone else if not the whole thing. What surprised me was how unaffected I was a first, though the rape, war and profanity were very intense it was not until the dead baby is unburied and eaten that I felt sick. I realized that the reason this was the hardest part to take in was because everyone who had been in pain and was suffering had all been adults who had somehow placed themselves into those horrific situations but the baby was just a baby. The play did a wonderful job in making me think about what that scene meant. I have never seen anything like Sarah Kane’s Blasted and I am very glad I stuck it out until the end.
Sally Maciel
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