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Sarah Kane's In-Yer-Face Theatre

664 Words3 Pages

1990s bore witness to emergence of a new angry young generation whoose works has been branded as speculative, confrontational, sensational, provocative, taboo-breaking, brutal, bleak, gloomy and dark. These playwrights possess a contemporary voice which speaks to young people portraying a composite picture of British society. (Bicer, 75) In 1990s playwrights of the In-yer-face theatre reshaped the language of the theatre by making it more direct, explicit, and raw. As a matter of fact, these playwrights ushered a new dramatic vocabulary and dragged the theatre into being more aggressive and experiential aiming to make the audience feel and respond. ( Alex Siersz (2008) As cited in Satkunananthan, 17, 2015).
Sierz defines in-yer-face theatre …show more content…

Kanes texts deal with themes of pain, sexual craving, destructive love, physical and psychological dimensions of cruelty, issues of distress, melancholia and death. She breaks down the established notions of the audiences through examining these specific topics. Kane tries to explore the possibility of change assuming the World is violent. She uses postdramatic theatre technique which was established by German theatre researcher Hans-Thies Lehmann. (Bicer, 76)
When it was performed at Royal Court Theatre in 1995, Kane’s first play Blasted, rocked the stages and aroused legendary controversy. In Blasted, Kane consciously attempts to depict the traumas of war, loss, rape, and domestic violence. Kane focussing on Bosnian war of the early 1990’s, tried to Show the catastrophic images of bombings, pain, torture, mutilation, hunger, inhumanity, sexual violence, rape, and abuse that define war. (Bicer, 76)
Later, Cate returns with a baby handed to her care. After some time the child passes away and Cate buries the baby and prays for its safekeeping afterlife. After the whole season, Ian performs highly bizarre acts which eventuate in him eating the buried baby. The play end in Cate’s returning and feding Ian with sausage, bread and gin. (Bicer,

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