Postdramatic theatre and the Work of Sarah Kane - Language and form

Abstract

This graduation assignment, based on the notion of a new theatrical form that German theatre researcher Hans-Thies Lehmann (1999) called postdramatic theatre, will be addressing the characteristics of the work of English playwright Sarah Kane that coincide with the postdramatic aesthetics. A few concepts about theatre throughout history will be explained, and a few facts about Sarah Kane's life will be mentioned, as well as the scarce work that she produced in her short life. Postdramatic theatre disrupts the logic of the language and the audacity of the staging of Sarah Kane's plays attacks the spectator, pulling him out of the comfort zone, questioning and sometimes destabilizing the audience. The idea of the postdramatic theatre as the theatre of performance, not just drama as literature will be also developed. A quick view of the “prehistory” of postdramatic theatre, the previous playwrights of the movement, and the kind of theatre produced will be displayed throughout the essay. Even though Sarah Kane's last two plays, Crave (1998) and 4.48 Psychosis (1999, premiered posthumously in 2000) are more paradigmatic of postdramatic theatre aesthetics – in the words of Hans-Thies Lehmann himself in his “Preface to the English edition” of his book Postdramatic Theatre: “4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane would almost have to be invented as one of the great texts in analogy to postdramatic theatre if it did not already exist.” (2006, p. ix) –, the plays that will be studied in this assignment are Kane's first three plays, Blasted, Phaedra's Love and Cleansed. The use of the text in these three plays can be seen in the light of a postdramatic context, where different aesthetic variables, apart from the text itself, interact to create the theatrical work.

Este traballo de graduación, baséase na noción dunha nova forma teatral que o investigador do teatro alemán Hans-Thies Lehmann (1999) chamou "teatro postdramático", abordará as características do traballo da dramaturga inglesa Sarah Kane que coinciden coa estética postdramática. Algúns conceptos sobre teatro ao longo da historia serán explicados e mencionaranse algúns feitos sobre a vida de Sarah Kane, así como os escasos traballos que ela produciu na súa curta vida. O teatro postdramático perturba a lóxica da linguaxe e a audacia da posta en escena das pezas de Sarah Kane ataca ao espectador, obrigándoo a saír da zona de confort, cuestionando e ás veces desestabilizando o público. A idea do teatro postdramático como teatro de "performance", non só de drama como literatura será tamén desenvolvido. Darase unha rápida visión da "prehistoria" do teatro postdramático. Aínda que as últimas dúas obras de Sarah Kane, "Crave" (1998) e 4.48 "Psychosis" (1999, estrenadas póstumamente en 2000) son as máis paradigmáticas da estética postdramática do teatro -en palabras do propio Hans-Thies Lehmann no seu "Prefacio á edición inglesa" o seu libro Postdramatic Theatre: "4.48 A psicosis de Sarah Kane case tería que ser inventado como un dos grandes textos en analogía ao teatro postdramático se aínda non existía. "(2006, p. ix) -, as obras que serán estudadas neste traballo son as tres primeiras obras de Kane, "Blasted", "Phaedra's Love" e "Cleansed" . O uso do texto destas tres obras pode verse á luz dun contexto postdramático, onde as distintas variables estéticas, ademais da texto en si, interactúan para crear o traballo teatral.