CLEANSED at The Catastrophic Theatre

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Regional Premiere of Sarah Kane’s

CLEANSED

April 5 through April 27

"LOVE ME OR KILL ME"

Written by the most notorious playwright of the late 20th century, CLEANSED is perhaps the most ambitious, longing, redemptive play in Catastrophic history. 

In a former university, society’s “undesirables” are subjected to a series of tortures designed to test the limits of human love on the battlefield of the human body. Explosively aching, hauntingly poetic, and disarmingly tender, CLEANSED is a fever-dream fable of unimaginable brutality and miraculous beauty.

"Once you have perceived that life is very cruel, the only response is to live with as much humanity, humor and freedom as you can.”

 - Sarah Kane

We live in a country and in a time of weaponized intolerance that poses immediate danger toward the bodies and lives of those that look, live, or love in ways that deviate from the most conservative societal constructs. Every character in Kane’s CLEANSED would be at risk in today’s America. 26 years after it was written, producing this nightmarishly prescient play feels like an urgent and necessary cause.

“To create something beautiful about despair is for me the most life-affirming thing a person can do.” – Sarah Kane

The regional premiere of CLEANSED is co-directed by core artist T Lavois Thiebaud and founding artistic director Jason Nodler, reuniting the creative team behind Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis which The Houston Press called “an imaginative bulldozer of a production.”

 We’re also thrilled to collaborate with the sculpture group, Moon Papas Art on set construction and special effects. 

The cast includes Raymond Compton, Bryan Kaplún, Ruben Ramires, T Lavois Thiebaud, Chuck Vaughn, Abraham Zeus Zapata, Walt Zipprian, Clarity Welch, and Andrew Whit. With music composed and performed by James Templeton and Sarah Moessnerand choreography by Adam Castan͂eda.

NO ONE UNDER 16 ADMITTED. 

CLEANSED runs April 5 - 27,  2024 at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH). Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at matchouston.org or by calling the MATCH box office at 713-521-4533. Performances are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets to all performances are PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN!

CLEANSED by Sarah Kane. Clarity Welch, Walt Zipprian, T Lavois Thiebaud and Bryan Kaplun. Rehearsal photos by Sarah Moessner.

CLEANSED by Sarah Kane. Abraham Zapata and Chuck Vaughn. Rehearsal photo by Sarah Moessner.

CLEANSED by Sarah Kane, Walt Zipprian. Rehearsal photo by Sarah Moessner.

In rehearsals for CLEANSED by Sarah Kane, co-director Jason Nodler. Photo by Sarah Moessner.

In rehearsals for CLEANSED by Sarah Kane, Walt Zipprian and Raymond Compton. Photo by Sarah Moessner.

In rehearsals for CLEANSED by Sarah Kane, Ruben Ramires and Sarah Moessner.

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