Pi Theatre presents Sarah Kane's highly-provocative and overtly shocking play Blasted - an incendiary, visceral portrayal of a world where private and public violation collide - at Granville Island's Performance Works (1218 Cartwright Street), tonight, April 10 - 25, 2015. Directed by Richard Wolfe, this uncompromising work, which was met with hostile critical reaction following its controversial 1995 London premiere, has now cemented Kane's legacy as the most provocative and influential British playwright of her generation.
"Critics denigrated Blasted as a 'feast of filth' after its premiere. But no less than
Harold Pinter and
Caryl Churchill came forward as champions for the play, swaying public opinion and resulting in sold-out houses," says Pi Theatre Artistic Director Richard Wolfe. "Today, the work is iconic -- included in almost every theatre history textbook -- and yet ours is just the second professional staging in Canada. The enormous production demands and sheer intensity of the work make witnessing Blasted a very rare experience."
The play begins on a sordid note, when a sleazy, bigoted tabloid journalist brings a naïve and troubled young woman back to his hotel room. The dysfunctional seduction is shattered by the arrival of a soldier, whose abrupt entry sets nightmarish events in motion. The ensuing visions are visceral and harrowing - abundant with violence, sex, and depravity. Their culmination, however, is a profound commentary on the dual nature of humanity: creatures capable of horrifying, merciless acts, and yet possessing an innate need to love and be loved.
Blasted was the first of five plays the British author would write before taking her own life in 1999 at the age of 28. Her works deal with themes of redemptive love, desire, pain, torture, and death -- all of which feature prominently in Blasted. Her ongoing legacy is that of an artist provocateur, groundbreaking dramatist, and ahead-of-her-time visionary.
"Two decades after its premiere, Blasted seems more at home in the present than it was at the time of its writing," reflects Wolfe. "Scenes that were thought of as exaggerated to the point of absurdity then, have taken on uncomfortable familiarity in the face of events today."
To explore Kane's tale of destruction and redemption, Pi Theatre has assembled an outstanding trio of actors: Cherise Clarke, Raresh DiMofte, and Michael Kopsa. The design team will include sound and projection by Remy Siu, costumes by Carmen Alatorre, set by Drew Facey (tasked with the challenge of creating a set that explodes each night, before re-assembly for the next performance), and graphic design by
Kristen Johnston.
In addition to marking 20 years since Blasted's premiere, the upcoming performance commemorates the 30th anniversary of Pi Theatre in Vancouver, whose premiere production -- Ratz -- occurred on July 5, 1985 in a temporarily converted brick warehouse on Powell St.
Tickets for Blasted available from $17 at
pitheatre.com. Please note: Contains coarse language, sex and violence. Not suitable for children.
About Pi Theatre (
pitheatre.com) - Pi Theatre produces bold and uncompromising plays that explore modern life, engaging audiences with theatre that is intellectually alive and emotionally charged. They are constant innovators whose experiments with form and format have rendered some of Vancouver's most memorable and risk-taking experiences. The company's recent productions include Except in the Unlikely Event of War (nominated for three Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards) and Terminus (recipient of three Jessie Awards, including Outstanding Production -- Small Theatre).
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