Pi Theatre offers an unusual encounter between a vulnerable woman, tabloid writer and a soldier in their new production Blasted.
From April 10-25, Pi Theatre will feature the Not Safe for Work (NSFW) production of Sarah Kane’s Blasted -- where perversion and violence come to bloom.
This marks only the second performance of Blasted in Canadian history. The world premiere of this work took place in 1995 at the Royal Court Theatre in London, England.
The Daily Mail famously criticized the play as “a disgusting feast of filth,” but UBC alumna Cherise Clarke intends to rise to the challenge and show how this production is as much about gender as it is about power.
Clarke plays Cate, a timid, yet caring woman who delves into a convoluted world of rape, war and love.
“Even though [Cate] definitely starts out the underdog,” said Clarke. “By the end, she gains strength through what she goes through.”
Clarke has starred in roles ranging from Rita in the one-woman show Tiny Apocalypse to Laura in The Glass Menagerie, Clarke has acted both empowered and vulnerable, still holding true to her feminist roots.
An idea came up in rehearsal about how both genders arbitrarily define heavy concepts like "harassment" and "rape." While one crew member might consider a scene to be a slight assault, Clarke sees it as “a brutal violation,” which reflects the reactions of western society on these issues.
Clarke reassured that the audience won't be "preached at" in the form of a play. “The writing’s too good for that,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s about power.”
One prevalent theme throughout the play is that of war -- as it's symbolized by the role of the soldier.
“I want to be careful," said Clarke. “But warfare is a male-centric phenomenon. Patriarchy is about hierarchy and domination and I'm no longer naive enough to think that if women ran the world everything would be better necessarily, it would be different probably. The fact is it tends to be men who go to war, it tends to be men who are leaders of state ... so when were talking about warfare, we’re talking about men."
In spite of all the controversial themes, love is interwoven throughout Blasted. Clarke said every character displays vulnerability regardless of gender.
Blasted will be playing April 10-25 at Granville Island's Performance Works. More information and tickets are available online.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Cate as Kate. It also implied that this work was first performed in Canada, in fact the first Canadian performance took place in Toronto and the world premier took place in 1995 in London, England. The Ubyssey regrets this error.