SexViolHist Bib: Representations: Literary Texts: Sarah Kane

»Sarah Kane (3 February 1971 – 20 February 1999) was an English playwright. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological—and death. They are characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of extreme and violent stage action.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

General

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Fitzpatrick, Lisa. »The Representation of Rape in the Work of Sarah Kane and Marina Carr.« Women Writing Rape: Literary and Theoretical Narratives of Sexual Violence. Warwick 2007.

[Info] Fitzpatrick, Lisa. »Signifying Rape: Problems of Representing Sexual Violence on Stage.« Feminism, Literature and Rape Narratives: Violence and Violation. Edited by Sorcha Gunne et al. New York 2010: 183-199.

[Info] Ward, Ian. »Rape and Rape Mythology in the Plays of Sarah Kane.« Comparative Drama. 47 (2013): 225-248.

II. Speaker Index

Blasted

I n f o r m a t i o n

»Kane's first play was Blasted (...). (...) The completed play, directed by James Macdonald, opened at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in 1995. The action is set in a room of a luxurious hotel in Leeds where Ian, a racist and foul-mouthed middle-aged journalist, tries to seduce Cate, an innocent, simple-minded young woman. From its opening in a naturalistic—though troubling—world, the play takes on different, nightmarish dimensions when a soldier, armed with a sniper's rifle, appears in the room. The narrative ultimately breaks into a series of increasingly disturbing short scenes. Its scenes of anal rape, cannibalism, and other forms of brutality, created one of the biggest theatre scandals in London since Edward Bond's Saved in 1965.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Modern History: 20^th Century

II. Geographical Index: European History: English History

III. Topical Index: Cases: Fictional Offenders: Ian; Fictional Victims: Cate, Ian | Types: General: Rape; Body: Anal Rape; Offenders / Victims: Same-Sex Rape

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Akpagana, Komlan C., et al. »From Comfort Zone to War Zone: Britain’s Indifference Blasted in Sarah Kane’s Blasted.« Collection Pluraxes / Monde (2025): 264-287.

[Info] Ballestra-Puech, Sylvie. »Violence et mélancolie dans Titus Andronicus de Shakespeare, Viol de Botho Strauss et Anéantis de Sarah Kane.« Loxias No. 31 (2010).

[Info] Harris Satkunananthan, Anita. »The Baby’s Not for Burning: The Abject in Sarah Kane’s Blasted and Helen Oyeyemi’s Juniper’s Whitening.« 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature 21 (2015): 17-29.

[Info] Herrer, María M. Hidden Quantum of Solace: Narratio of Violence and Petitio of Solace in the Plays of Sarah Kane. Tesis doctoral, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2015.

[Info] Kane, Nina R. The Treatment of Rape in Women's Performance Art and Sarah Kane's Blasted. Masters Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 2008.

[Info] Shih, Chun-Yi. »創痛的身體: Wertenbaker及Kane之戰爭劇作中的性暴力演繹.« 女學學誌：婦女與性別研究 No. 36 (2015): 145-186.

[Info] Smoljo, Katarina. Violence and Sarah Kane: Representation of Sexual Violence in "Blasted" and "Phaedra's Love". Undergraduate Thesis, Sveučilište u Zadru, 2017.

[Info] Solga, Kim. »Blasted’s hysteria: Rape, realism, and the thresholds of the visible.« Modern drama 50 (2007): 346-374.

[Info] Zhurba, Dina. The Engendered Representation of Sexual Violence in Sarah Kane's Blasted. M.A. Thesis, University of Richmond, 2008.

II. Speaker Index

Cleansed

I n f o r m a t i o n

»Cleansed is the third play by the English playwright Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1998 at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs in London. The play is set in a university which (according to the blurb of the published script) is operating as "an institution designed to rid society of its undesirables" where "a group of inmates try to save themselves through love" while under the rule of the sadistic Tinker.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Modern History: 20^th Century

II. Geographical Index: European History: English History

III. Topical Index: -

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Herrer, María M. Hidden Quantum of Solace: Narratio of Violence and Petitio of Solace in the Plays of Sarah Kane. Tesis doctoral, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2015.

II. Speaker Index

Crave

I n f o r m a t i o n

»Crave is a one-act play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1998 by the theatre company Paines Plough, with which Kane was writer-in-residence for the year, at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. The play was initially presented under the pseudonym Marie Kelvedon; Kane used a pseudonym to avoid the distraction of her reputation for graphic staged violence from her previous works. Crave was Kane's fourth play.
The play reflects a stylistic departure from Kane's previous works, using a non-linear, poetic style, and is notable for its lack of staged violence that had been a hallmark of the author's previous work; this style is continued in her next and final work, 4.48 Psychosis.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Modern History: 20^th Century

II. Geographical Index: European History: English History

III. Topical Index: -

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Herrer, María M. Hidden Quantum of Solace: Narratio of Violence and Petitio of Solace in the Plays of Sarah Kane. Tesis doctoral, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2015.

II. Speaker Index

Phaedra's Love

I n f o r m a t i o n

»Phaedra's Love is a play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1996 at London's Gate Theatre, directed by the author. The play is a modern adaptation of Seneca's Phaedra. The play explores the brutal nature of love, social relations, nihilism and belief through the example of an affair between a queen and her stepson.
It centres more on Hippolytus (the original focuses more on Phaedra), who is rendered lazy and cynical by his upbringing as the son of King Theseus. Unlike classical drama, most of the violent action happens on stage rather than off. « (Extract from: Wikipedia)

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Modern History: 20^th Century

II. Geographical Index: European History: English History

III. Topical Index: Cases: Mythological Offenders: Hippolytus, Theseus; Mythological Victims: Phaedra, Strophe | Types: General: Rape

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Herrer, María M. Hidden Quantum of Solace: Narratio of Violence and Petitio of Solace in the Plays of Sarah Kane. Tesis doctoral, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2015.

[Info] Smoljo, Katarina. Violence and Sarah Kane: Representation of Sexual Violence in "Blasted" and "Phaedra's Love". Undergraduate Thesis, Sveučilište u Zadru, 2017.

II. Speaker Index

4.48 Psychosis

I n f o r m a t i o n

»4.48 Psychosis is the final play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was first staged at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on 23 June 2000, directed by James Macdonald, nearly one and a half years after Kane's death on 20 February 1999. The play has no explicit characters or stage directions. Stage productions of the play vary greatly, therefore, with between one and several actors in performance; the original production featured three actors.
The play is usually interpreted as an expression of the experience of clinical depression, a disorder from which Kane suffered. She died by suicide after writing the play, before its initial performance. Contemplation and discussion of suicide are prominent and while there is no strict narrative or timeline, certain issues and events are clearly dealt with: deciding whether to take medication to treat depression, the desires of the depressed mind, the effects and effectiveness of medication, self-harm, suicide and the possible causes of depression. Other themes that run throughout the script, in addition to depression, are those of isolation, dependency, relationships, and love.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Modern History: 20^th Century

II. Geographical Index: European History: English History

III. Topical Index: -

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Herrer, María M. Hidden Quantum of Solace: Narratio of Violence and Petitio of Solace in the Plays of Sarah Kane. Tesis doctoral, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2015.

II. Speaker Index