THE PLAY
"The voices speak without concrete context and there is only the most fragmentary hint of a narrative. The voices describe their desires, remember losses in the past, and question their future in the face of their psychological damage." David Greig, Introduction to Sarah Kane Complete Plays, 2001.
Sarah Kane's fourth play was first performed in 1998. It marked a departure from her previous plays - Blasted, Phaedra's Love and Cleansed. Kane's provocative work had led her to be labeled by many critics as a "controversial" writer. However, the change in her style for Crave, led to critical success at the Edinburgh Festival.
The four characters or voices are identified as A, B, M and C. These voices interplay with each other to create a poetic, musical piece out of the fragmented dialogue.Through the four voices Kane continues her exploration of the effect of love - whether primary, maternal or abusive - upon the self.
THE WRITER
"Each play was a new step on an artistic journey in which Kane mapped the darkest and most unforgiving internal landscapes" David Greig, Introduction to Sarah Kane Complete Plays, 2001.
Sarah Kane was born in 1971 and had a brief, intense career from 1995 to her death in 1999. Her first play, Blasted, was generally met with disdain and disgust. The young writer found herself in the tabloids, as well as the arts pages - condemned as a playwright simply out to shock. The tabloids wanted the theatre shut down. It was even discussed on Newsnight.
"Overshadowed" is a word that comes up again and again when reading about Sarah Kane. Overshadowed by the responses to her first three plays. Overshadowed by the label "controversial". Overshadowed by her suicide in 1999, following years of cycles of depression. All these factors converge to create the myth of "Sarah Kane", but in the mythologizing, we lose the power of her work.
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