I know you want to punish me, trying to make me live. In 1995 Sarah Kane''s first full-length play Blasted sent shockwaves throughout the theatrical world. Making front-page headlines, the play outraged critics with its depiction of rape, torture and violence in civil war. However, from being roundly condemned by the critics the play is now considered a seminal work of European theatre and has defined an entire era of stage writing.In an expensive hotel room in Leeds, Ian, a middle-aged tabloid journalist, sits with his teenage lover Cate who he attempts to seduce and eventually rapes. As reality dissipates, the room becomes embroiled in civil war as a soldier invades the space and the play descends into apocalyptic scenes of brutality. Blasted''s canonical status reflects the raw beauty and terror of Kane''s writing. Probing the brutality people inflict upon one another, the suffering and violation, the play also looks at the role of love and the redemption it off
