Blasted

First edition thus. 8vo. 61pp. Pictorial wraps. Originally published in 1995 by Methuen in Frontline Intelligence 2.

"I know you want to punish me, trying to make me live."

In January 1995, Sarah Kane's seminal first full length play, Blasted, opened at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London, in a production directed by James Macdonald. It quickly became the cause célèbre of the theatrical year, making front-page headlines and outraging critics with its uncompromising depiction of rape, torture and violence in a society at war with itself. Its Royal Court Downstairs revival in 2001 cemented its place in dramatic history.

"[P]lagued with mental anguish and tormented by thoughts of suicide," in the words of the coroner, Kane committed suicide in 1999 at the tender age of 28.

"Kane has an acute grasp of sexual politics and her dialogue is both sparse and stunning. They will call her mad, but then they said that about Strindberg." –Mail on Sunday