Thesis (M.A.)--Cleveland State University, 2008. / Abstract. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Apr. 14, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 35). Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center. Also available in print.

Crave, the play I chose to direct as my thesis final project, constitutes a complex and crude portrait of our time, a moment in history marked by violence and individualism. These themes permeate the whole script, with its experimental and poetic style constitutes a challenge at the moment of staging it. This document is intended precisely to register the whole process of staging Crave. The first chapter presents the pre-production research, in which I trace the artistic trajectory of the author, British playwright Sarah Kane, in the context of experimental theater. I also analyze the play, and I present my directorial approach to it. In the second chapter I register the actual process of staging it; the methodologies I used in working with the actors and the designers, as well as the challenges I faced in applying them. Finally, the last chapter is a reflection upon the whole process, with the intention of evaluating my growth as a theater director through this project, which constitutes my final step in these training years at SIUC.

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O presente trabalho tem por objetivo estudar pontuais questões estéticas e formais na peça da dramaturga inglesa Sarah Kane: Blasted (1995), de modo a entender a forma e sua respectiva correspondência com o contexto sócio-histórico. Em linhas gerais, o estudo objetiva investigar os procedimentos formais utilizados por Kane e as relações entre tema e forma, partindo do pressuposto de Peter Szondi que compreende a forma como conteúdo precipitado. Nesse sentido, analisaremos de que maneira elementos temáticos, tais como a violência (psicológica, verbal, física), a guerra, o abuso sexual e tabus, tais como, cenas de intercurso hetero e homossexual, canibalismo, entre outros, são amplamente utilizados pela dramaturga e como se engendram estruturalmente no enredo da peça. Para tanto, procuramos fazer uma breve introdução histórico teatral ao contexto político, econômico e social da Inglaterra nos anos noventa, à peça, à dramaturga e à estética teatral do In-yer-face theatre. Em seguida, focamos na apresentação cena-a-cena da peça, dedicada à análise pormenorizada de Blasted e ao levantamento das temáticas relevantes expressas na peça. Finalmente, nos dedicamos às relações formais e escolhas estéticas presentes em Blasted, relacionadas aos eventos histórico-sociais a que a peça remete. / The present work aims to study specific formal-aesthetic issues in the 1995 play Blasted by British playwright Sarah Kane in order to understand the play´s form as related to its socio-historical context. In general terms, this study aims to investigate the formal procedures used by Kane and the plays relations between theme and form, according to Peter Szondi´s assumptions which comprehend that form could be conceived of as precipitated content. In this sense, we will analyze how themes such as psychological, verbal and physical violence, war, sexual abuse and taboo scenes of heterosexual and homosexual intercourse, for example, or cannibalism, among others, are widely used by the playwright and how they are structurally embedded in the plot of the play. The study starts with a brief historical introduction to the political, economic and social context of England in the nineties, followed by an introduction to the play and its theatrical context, to the playwright and to the aesthetic principles of In-yer-face theatre. Then, we focus on the detailed analysis of each scene of the play, stressing its relevant issues. Lastly, we proceed to analyze the formal relations and the aesthetic choices present in Blasted, as related to the social-historical events that the play refers to.

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo estudar pontuais questões estéticas e formais na peça da dramaturga inglesa Sarah Kane: Blasted (1995), de modo a entender a forma e sua respectiva correspondência com o contexto sócio-histórico. Em linhas gerais, o estudo objetiva investigar os procedimentos formais utilizados por Kane e as relações entre tema e forma, partindo do pressuposto de Peter Szondi que compreende a forma como conteúdo precipitado. Nesse sentido, analisaremos de que maneira elementos temáticos, tais como a violência (psicológica, verbal, física), a guerra, o abuso sexual e tabus, tais como, cenas de intercurso hetero e homossexual, canibalismo, entre outros, são amplamente utilizados pela dramaturga e como se engendram estruturalmente no enredo da peça. Para tanto, procuramos fazer uma breve introdução histórico teatral ao contexto político, econômico e social da Inglaterra nos anos noventa, à peça, à dramaturga e à estética teatral do In-yer-face theatre. Em seguida, focamos na apresentação cena-a-cena da peça, dedicada à análise pormenorizada de Blasted e ao levantamento das temáticas relevantes expressas na peça. Finalmente, nos dedicamos às relações formais e escolhas estéticas presentes em Blasted, relacionadas aos eventos histórico-sociais a que a peça remete. / The present work aims to study specific formal-aesthetic issues in the 1995 play Blasted by British playwright Sarah Kane in order to understand the play´s form as related to its socio-historical context. In general terms, this study aims to investigate the formal procedures used by Kane and the plays relations between theme and form, according to Peter Szondi´s assumptions which comprehend that form could be conceived of as precipitated content. In this sense, we will analyze how themes such as psychological, verbal and physical violence, war, sexual abuse and taboo scenes of heterosexual and homosexual intercourse, for example, or cannibalism, among others, are widely used by the playwright and how they are structurally embedded in the plot of the play. The study starts with a brief historical introduction to the political, economic and social context of England in the nineties, followed by an introduction to the play and its theatrical context, to the playwright and to the aesthetic principles of In-yer-face theatre. Then, we focus on the detailed analysis of each scene of the play, stressing its relevant issues. Lastly, we proceed to analyze the formal relations and the aesthetic choices present in Blasted, as related to the social-historical events that the play refers to.

Le théâtre est le lieu d’un rapport privilégié au corps, dans la co-présence du corps de l’acteur et du corps du spectateur au moment de la représentation théâtrale. Il est l’arène privilégiée où s’observe l’impact des bouleversements qui ont modifié les codes de la représentation au cours du vingtième siècle. Le théâtre anglais contemporain attire les regards sur le spectacle d’un corps souffrant, exhibé, violenté (théâtre In-yer-face, théâtre de la Catastrophe) et dans le même temps propose la représentation d’un corps spectral dans un théâtre influencé par Beckett. Ces deux tendances – corps spectacle et corps spectral – sont les signes visibles d’une crise de la représentation du corps et de la déconstruction du sujet. Les auteurs que nous avons choisis pour cette étude (Edward Bond, Howard Barker, Martin Crimp et Sarah Kane) se sont imposés comme les figures de proue d’un théâtre non-naturaliste, poétique et subversif, qui font du corps le pilier de leurs esthétiques. Notre étude se présente comme une anatomie du « corps esthétique » (Roland Barthes) dans une perspective comparatiste des dramaturgies abordées. Elle explore le rôle du corps dans tous les domaines de la représentation : Comment le texte construit-il le corps ? Comment le corps envahit-il le texte ? Quelles sont les stratégies mises en œuvre pour représenter le corps dans le passage de la page au plateau ? Quelle est la place du corps de l’acteur ? du corps du spectateur ? Parce que « le » corps n’existe pas, les théâtres du corps en jeu ne cessent d’affirmer le potentiel illimité du corps en exposant la labilité du corps du personnage, de l’acteur et du spectateur. / The theatre is a privileged site to understand the body, because of the copresence of the body of the actor and that of the spectator during the representation. It is the privileged arena where we can observe the consequences of the upheavals that changed the conventions in representation in the course of the twentieth century. English contemporary theatre attracts our attention both to the spectacle of a suffering body, which is also exposed and violated (In-yer-face theatre, the theatre of Catastrophe) and that of a spectral body, in a theatre influenced by Beckett. These two trends – the body as spectacle and the spectral body – are the visible signs of a crisis in the representation of the body and the deconstruction of the subject. The authors chosen for this study (Edward Bond, Howard Barker, Martin Crimp and Sarah Kane) are the figureheads of a non-naturalistic, poetic and subversive theatre. The body is at the core of their aesthetics. Our contention is to develop an anatomy of the “aesthetic body” (Roland Barthes) with a comparative approach of the works, and to investigate the role of the body in all the different fields of representation: How does the text create a body? How does the body invade the text? What are the strategies at stake to represent the body in the translation from page to stage? How is the body of the actor used? How is the spectator’s body affected? Because it seems there is no such thing as “the” body, the theatres of the “body-at-play” try to reassess the limitless potential of the body, to deliver it from all constraints, and to expose the lability of the character’s body, as well as the actor’s and the spectator’s.

<p>This essay is an introduction to the intentions and purposes of the british play writer Sarah Kane (1971-1999). Her own voice is presented both via quotations linked to her work and by an explanation of her connections to the surrealist poet and actor Antonin Artaud. The main focus is on Kane’s second play, Phaedra’s Love, first performed in 1996. The play is analyzed in co-relation to La volonté de savoir, the first volume in Michel Foucault’s trilogy Histoire de la sexualité. The analysis concentrates on how the structures in society control and act in relationship to and in collision with desire.</p><p>In La volonté de savoir Michel Foucault presents the thesis that there exists a special talk about sex and sexuality. A talk that states that these are repressed issues. Foucault asserts that such a talk originates from several discourses and institutions in society and together they constitute a chain of power. In his analysis Foucault examines why we declare ourselves as oppressed and what consequences that generates. This essay relies heavily on an inquiry of these consequences and its discourses. The theories of Foucault are applied to Phaedra’s Love and explain the scenarios in which the social discourses of power collide and how they try to affect the characters and their desire. Together they make clear, that desire, in the play, is not primarily related to sex and sexuality. It is rather a desire; the object of which is the state of self-governed individuality. A need for an individual space in the discourses of talk. The main characters, Phaedra and Hippolytus, changed attitude concerning talk and silence result in a powerful social reaction. They both riot against a structure which maintains the standard discourses of power and knowledge. The riot is to be read as the final outcome of the society that surrounds them. The social reaction that comes with this exposes that the controlling discourses of power ultimately are based upon, not talk, but violence.</p><p>Several other aspects are of importance for the analysis and its conclusions even though they are not pointed out in this abstract. The play Phaedra’s Love and Foucault’s theories both operate on numerous levels at the same time, and as a whole, they both present experiences they wish the spectator/reader will reflect upon.</p> / <p>Uppsatsen ger en ingång till den brittiska dramatikern Sarah Kanes intentioner som pjäsförfattare. Hon kommer själv till tals via citat knutna till sin produktion och genom påvisade beröringspunkter med den surrealistiska poeten och skådespelaren Antonin Artaud. Tyngdpunkten ligger på Kanes andra pjäs; Phaedra’s Love, uruppförd 1996. Med stöd i Michel Foucaults Viljan att veta band 1 ur trilogin Sexualitetens historia undersöks det hur samhällets strukturer kontrollerar och verkar tillsammans med och i kollision med begäret i pjäsen.</p><p>Michel Foucault driver i Viljan att veta tesen att det finns ett särskilt tal om könet och sexualiteten, ett tal som hävdar att dessa är förtryckta. Foucault menar att ett sådant tal utgår från flera olika diskurser och institutioner i samhället och att de tillsammans utgör en maktens relation. Foucault undersöker i sin analys varför vi påstår oss vara förtryckta och vad det får för konsekvenser. Analysen av pjäsen fördjupar sig i dessa konsekvenser och dess diskurser under rubrikerna: ”Familj och monarki”, ”Tal och tystnad”, ”Begär”, ”Motstånd”, ”Bekännelse”, ”Samhälle” och ”Våld”. I varje avsnitt appliceras Foucaults teorier på Phaedra’s Love och förklarar det scenario som uppstår då samhällets maktstrukturer kolliderar med och försöker påverka rollfigurernas begär.</p><p>Genom analysen av pjäsen visar sig begäret inte primärt vara sexuellt relaterat utan rör istället begäret att agera som självständigt subjekt. Behovet av att ta subjektiv plats i talet och dess diskurser. Rollfigurernas förändring i förhållningssätt till talet och tystnaden och deras agerande därefter utlöser en kraftig reaktion från samhällets sida. Huvudrollerna Phaedra och Hippolytus gör uppror mot de strukturer som bibehåller makten och vetandets diskurser intakta. Deras agerande kan läsas som en reaktion provocerad ur det samhälle som omger dem. Samhällets reaktion mot detta visar, i sin tur, på att maktens kontrollerande diskurser ytterst inte ligger i talet utan i våldet.</p><p>Flera andra aspekter är av betydelse för analysen och dess slutsatser även om de inte poängteras här i sammanfattningen. Kanes pjäs rör sig liksom Foucaults teorier parallellt på flera genomgripande nivåer. Som helhet presenterar dock de båda en erfarenhet med en förhoppning om att åskådaren/läsarens ska ta tillvara densamma.</p>

This essay is an introduction to the intentions and purposes of the british play writer Sarah Kane (1971-1999). Her own voice is presented both via quotations linked to her work and by an explanation of her connections to the surrealist poet and actor Antonin Artaud. The main focus is on Kane’s second play, Phaedra’s Love, first performed in 1996. The play is analyzed in co-relation to La volonté de savoir, the first volume in Michel Foucault’s trilogy Histoire de la sexualité. The analysis concentrates on how the structures in society control and act in relationship to and in collision with desire. In La volonté de savoir Michel Foucault presents the thesis that there exists a special talk about sex and sexuality. A talk that states that these are repressed issues. Foucault asserts that such a talk originates from several discourses and institutions in society and together they constitute a chain of power. In his analysis Foucault examines why we declare ourselves as oppressed and what consequences that generates. This essay relies heavily on an inquiry of these consequences and its discourses. The theories of Foucault are applied to Phaedra’s Love and explain the scenarios in which the social discourses of power collide and how they try to affect the characters and their desire. Together they make clear, that desire, in the play, is not primarily related to sex and sexuality. It is rather a desire; the object of which is the state of self-governed individuality. A need for an individual space in the discourses of talk. The main characters, Phaedra and Hippolytus, changed attitude concerning talk and silence result in a powerful social reaction. They both riot against a structure which maintains the standard discourses of power and knowledge. The riot is to be read as the final outcome of the society that surrounds them. The social reaction that comes with this exposes that the controlling discourses of power ultimately are based upon, not talk, but violence. Several other aspects are of importance for the analysis and its conclusions even though they are not pointed out in this abstract. The play Phaedra’s Love and Foucault’s theories both operate on numerous levels at the same time, and as a whole, they both present experiences they wish the spectator/reader will reflect upon. / Uppsatsen ger en ingång till den brittiska dramatikern Sarah Kanes intentioner som pjäsförfattare. Hon kommer själv till tals via citat knutna till sin produktion och genom påvisade beröringspunkter med den surrealistiska poeten och skådespelaren Antonin Artaud. Tyngdpunkten ligger på Kanes andra pjäs; Phaedra’s Love, uruppförd 1996. Med stöd i Michel Foucaults Viljan att veta band 1 ur trilogin Sexualitetens historia undersöks det hur samhällets strukturer kontrollerar och verkar tillsammans med och i kollision med begäret i pjäsen. Michel Foucault driver i Viljan att veta tesen att det finns ett särskilt tal om könet och sexualiteten, ett tal som hävdar att dessa är förtryckta. Foucault menar att ett sådant tal utgår från flera olika diskurser och institutioner i samhället och att de tillsammans utgör en maktens relation. Foucault undersöker i sin analys varför vi påstår oss vara förtryckta och vad det får för konsekvenser. Analysen av pjäsen fördjupar sig i dessa konsekvenser och dess diskurser under rubrikerna: ”Familj och monarki”, ”Tal och tystnad”, ”Begär”, ”Motstånd”, ”Bekännelse”, ”Samhälle” och ”Våld”. I varje avsnitt appliceras Foucaults teorier på Phaedra’s Love och förklarar det scenario som uppstår då samhällets maktstrukturer kolliderar med och försöker påverka rollfigurernas begär. Genom analysen av pjäsen visar sig begäret inte primärt vara sexuellt relaterat utan rör istället begäret att agera som självständigt subjekt. Behovet av att ta subjektiv plats i talet och dess diskurser. Rollfigurernas förändring i förhållningssätt till talet och tystnaden och deras agerande därefter utlöser en kraftig reaktion från samhällets sida. Huvudrollerna Phaedra och Hippolytus gör uppror mot de strukturer som bibehåller makten och vetandets diskurser intakta. Deras agerande kan läsas som en reaktion provocerad ur det samhälle som omger dem. Samhällets reaktion mot detta visar, i sin tur, på att maktens kontrollerande diskurser ytterst inte ligger i talet utan i våldet. Flera andra aspekter är av betydelse för analysen och dess slutsatser även om de inte poängteras här i sammanfattningen. Kanes pjäs rör sig liksom Foucaults teorier parallellt på flera genomgripande nivåer. Som helhet presenterar dock de båda en erfarenhet med en förhoppning om att åskådaren/läsarens ska ta tillvara densamma.

Thesis Abstract The present thesis offers to read six plays by three contemporary British playwrights - Sarah Kane's Crave (1997) and 4.48 Psychosis (1999), Caryl Churchill's The Skriker (1994) and Far Away (2000), and Tim Crouch's ENGLAND (2007) and The Author (2009) through the lens of Julia Kristeva's essay on abjection, Powers of Horror (1982). Kristeva theorizes abjection as that which retains some resemblance to the subject or object, but is neither - or no longer belongs to the subject. Being confronted with the abject is unpleasant because it is threatening for the subject. It contains all that is habitually removed from life and does not belong in the symbolic order - corpses and excrements. Likewise, the maternal body needs to become abject for the infant to realize its own borders and bodily integrity. Kristeva proposes that the abject finds its way back into the symbolic order through literature, and reads a number of writers as being concerned with the abject. In the theatre, as well as in the visual arts, abjection has been a useful theoretical starting point, despite the fact that it is seen by a number of critics as something which cannot truly be grasped, and as resisting description and verbal imposition. Each playwright and each play includes a different aspect of the abject. Central to...

This thesis examines the relationship between dramatic structure and women's responses to oppression. By looking at Blasted by Sarah Kane, Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2, & 3 by Suzan-Lori Parks, and Feminaal by Nina Morrison, I examine the ways that questions of structure become questions of gender. I argue that these plays’ forms are purposeful embodiments of resistance and aggression and that the energetic connection between these plays is a current of anger.