We All Need to be "Blasted!" Once in a While

It’s always my preference to go into a performance with little knowledge of what I’ll be seeing.  Partially because I have a tendency to imagine in my head what certain aspects of a performance will look like, sound like, actually be like, and once I have these premonitions I find it much more likely I’ll be disappointed by the actual performance.  Of course, for a play like “Blasted!” I knew that I wouldn’t want to go into it without some knowledge of what to expect, and having discussed it extensively in class already, I felt like reading a synopsis wouldn’t hurt my overall opinion of the play.  To put it simply: it did not.  Nothing and no amount of words could have prepared me for what we saw performed that Monday night.  Although I was expecting terrible and shocking scenes, seeing it performed on a stage made me realize that I had not sufficiently prepared myself, at least not nearly enough to diminish the surprise. 

The first thing that shocked me was rather trivial though.  When the scene opened up on a modern hotel room I was incredibly put off.  It’s not that I was expecting something different, I knew the first half took place in a hotel, but what I didn’t know is how up to date it would be.  The furniture, the fixtures, the design style was all something out of a magazine or high-end hotel today.  Similarly the way that both principle characters were dressed confused me.  Was this play not written in the 90’s?  Why is Cate wearing an outfit similar to the one I put on almost everyday?  Skinny jeans, lace up boots, her hair long and straight; everything pointed to a modern day setting, a bit too close for comfort.  But then, that is what “Blasted!” aims to accomplish.  Each scene is constructed to shock the viewer, going from full frontal male nudity, to an angry and violent disagreement, to the solider at the door, and that’s not even touching upon the second half. 

The most interesting part of the performance for me was my reaction to it as I walked out, and now weeks later how I feel.  Although when I recount images of the play I am just as disturbed as the first time I witnessed it, I could not say now, or even then, that I hated it.  Sure, I hated most of the things going on within the play, but the acting, the message, the set design, all the other things were spectacular.  Only a few times prior have I been so engrossed in a storyline, eager to see it finished, eager to see what will happen.  The dichotomy of Kane’s “Blasted!” is the simple dialogue used in conjunction with the incredible visuals given to the viewer.  It’s very obvious that not one character in the play has the vocabulary or mind to process and explain why these things are happening to them, and yet it is almost preferable to the viewer this way.  No explanations are made, because in reality, none are needed.  Explaining something terrible does not make the lasting memory of it any better.  “Blasted!” may be more difficult to watch and process than something like “Mama Mia,” but it is definitely worth the mental effort exerted.  Shouldn’t theatre make us question ourselves?

-Allison Goldman, UCSB