Photo by Simon Kane from the NY TImes.Thanks to everyone (Sheila, Isaac, Ruben, Rob, and Jason) who encouraged me to show-up for Blasted. I showed-up early, looked forlorn, waited and waited, and got the best seat in the house. It was well-worth the effort.
Now, the show is in previews, and this wouldn't be a review anyway. But I will say that I thrilled to it, I was astonished by it. And I hope you don't need me to tell you that it's essential viewing for anyone who thinks the theatre is still important in this day and age. Aside from being the most controversial play of the last 15 years, it also test more thoroughly than any other modern work the theatre's special abilities and responsibilities.
Hell, remember the Right Now Reading List? Topped it, didn't it?
Seriously, I know you're thinking that you've gotta get out and see Equus before Harry Potter goes home, but Fuck That.
You've got 19 chances to see this thing and they've got about 30 different discounts available, student rushes, group rates, and the top ticket price is only $40 anyway. There's no excuse. Get there.
But be prepared. A little Wiki-research won't hurt. There were a lot of people in the house who clearly had no idea what they were in for, and some of them were really upset about it. Here's a tip, on the phone late last night, I was telling my wife about it and I found myself saying, in all seriousness, "Yeah, the anal rape is actually one of the best moments in the play. The acting was amazing." So ... there's that.
Not that knowing what's coming will keep you from being disturbed. Lord knows I've read that play and had fights about it, and read it more, and read commentary, and have flipped 180 degrees in my opinion of it a few times and it still took me places I really didn't want to go.
Final note, I discovered in reading the program that I had seen all three actors in other productions, but in 3 different cities. I saw Reed Birney, who play Ian, in Homebody/Kabul at Steppenwolf (Chicago). I saw Louis Cancelmi, who plays the soldier, in Peninsula at Soho Rep a few years ago. And I saw Marin Ireland, who plays Kate, in the Royal Court touring production of Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis, which played at the Wexner Center in Columbus. Go me, right?
Go get Blasted. Read more in the NY Times or the Village Voice.
Comments (1)
Blasted is the only play I've ever read that I literally threw out of my hands at one point. The images on the page were that powerful.
As a writer I'm sometimes saddened that I can't write like Sarah Kane, and yet at the same time I'm relieved.
Posted by Lindsay Price | November 13, 2008 3:09 PM
Posted on November 13, 2008 15:09