M/C Reviews: Sarah Kane's <i>Blasted</i>

	Sarah Kane's Blasted Cath Hart
	La Boite presents Blasted by Sarah Kane	25 July 2001

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Bit 1		Hyped as one of the most controversial plays to be seen in Brisbane, Sarah Kane’s Blasted has already been the subject of two complaints to the police minister. The script has all the marks of an emerging playwright - a talented emerging playwright. However the themes - violence, love and dependence - are in charge of the writer and the focus is perhaps too broad. But as we see in Kane’s later, or even final work, 4.48 Psychosis, she eventually wrangles successfully with these elements. This said, Blasted, performed at the La Boite, is interesting in the trajectory of Kane’s career and development.
Bit 2		The narrative follows Cate and Ian, through their stay in a hotel room, somewhere, sometime. The first half is a display of the disparate power dynamic between Ian’s cruelty and the stuttering Cate’s confusion about their relationship. The drama then turns to invert Ian’s petty successes over Cate when the hotel is bombed and a soldier enters their room. The soldier is desperate as opposed to cruel, and as he engages with Ian, we learn of the different types of violence these two states provide. The detail of the characters’ histories remains unclear as Kane has dispensed with exposition and back story, focussing instead on the moment of the drama.
Bit 3		The show is touted as an exploration of violence in different contexts, and highlighting the similarities between them. But this explanation falls flat after viewing. There isn’t enough in the script to unpick the seams between global and local violence. Thankfully. A polemic on the state of the world would have dumbed down the personal dynamic between the characters. Rather, Blasted explores the point where public and private chaos eclipse each other. With chaos in mind - rather than violence, Blasted lifts the patina of civility layer by layer as we descend into an anarchic world where survival pips propriety. The show is touted as an exploration of violence in different contexts, and highlighting the similarities between them. But this explanation falls flat after viewing. There isn’t enough in the script to unpick the seams between global and local violence. Thankfully. A polemic on the state of the world would have dumbed down the personal dynamic between the characters. Rather, Blasted explores the point where public and private chaos eclipse each other. With chaos in mind - rather than violence, Blasted lifts the patina of civility layer by layer as we descend into an anarchic world where survival pips propriety.
Bit 4		One of the problems of the show is outside the script, outside the theatre and beyond the actors. It sits somewhere in the publicity department. The audience tittered nervously before lights down - anticipating the promised carnage and assuring themselves that they had the street savvy and sophistication necessary to withstand whatever Blasted would throw at them. Thing is, it’s not that shocking, and expectation is the root of all disappointment. Again, Kane doesn’t yet have control of the psychological elements of her writing to terrify us - at this stage they seem to be writing her.
Bit 5		Beyond the hype of the ‘sheer brutality of the text’, the slow burn of Cate’s evolving strength is marvelous to watch. Melinda Butel’s performance of Cate leaves you hurting with empathy. The trajectory of Cate’s story, as she becomes more robust, is successful because of the playing. Steven Grives, as Ian, brings together a mix of nastiness striped with pure sleaze and he successfully demonstrates the fragility of these defences in the face of threat. Marcel Dorney, the skulking soldier - the alien in the landscape of the text, takes a remarkable tour through chaos in his role but retains his focus well and seems to have found something to redeem the Soldier in his portrayal. Kane’s script offers the cast alluringly flawed characters but they all bring something more nuanced to them instead of taking the easy road.

Bit 6		Details La Boite presents Blasted by Sarah Kane Writer: Sarah Kane Director: Linda Hassall Cast: Steven Grives, Melinda Butel and Marcel Dorney La Boite, Brisbane 12-28 July 2001

Bit 7		Citation reference for this article MLA style: Cath Hart. "Sarah Kane's Blasted " M/C Reviews 25 July 2001. [your date of access] <http://www.media-culture.org.au/reviews/events/blasted.html>. Chicago style: Cath Hart, "Sarah Kane's Blasted ," M/C Reviews 25 July 2001, <http://www.media-culture.org.au/reviews/events/blasted.html> ([your date of access]). APA style: Cath Hart. (2000) Sarah Kane's Blasted . M/C Reviews 25 July 2001. <http://www.media-culture.org.au/reviews/events/blasted.html> ([your date of access]).

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