BWW Reviews: BLASTED, Crucible Studio, Sheffield, February 10 2015

It's twenty years since Sarah Kane's Blasted debuted at the Royal Court and shocked critics with its bold presentation of humanity at the extremes. Its exploration of the extreme lengths people will go to when tested was not, and remains not, for the faint-hearted. It's a visceral play and its power comes in the way it presents horrific acts in a familiar, naturalistic setting. The content is no worse than you might find in classical literature, but the juxtaposition of some of the more gruesome extremes of existence and the mundane and familiar settings of a hotel room caused a furore on the play's debut.

Twenty years later, it's interesting to see whether age has withered the play's power. The Sheffield Theatres production, part of its spring Sarah Kane season (and what a joy to see a female playwright honoured in one of these seasons), could be set in 1995 or 2015, or any year in between - and Kane's dialogue and themes easily translate across the time gap and are unlikely to age in the next twenty years. The content of the play and the journey to hell the central character Ian (believably played by Martin Marquez) goes through still have the power to shock and perturb audiences.

The set is detailed, replicating perfectly a nice but bland hotel room. The way the key set change midway through is effected is something very special. The hotel room is situated on a raised stage with a half-wall of glass windows surrounding. This slightly uncomfortable positioning - able to see intimately into a place that would normally be private, yet still somewhat removed - lends itself well to the play's content. When unspeakable things happen, we're compelled to look on as voyeurs, in some way complicit in what occurs through the act of gazing upon it.

Richard Wilson, on directing duties, manages to bring out the humour and horror, the tensions and tenderness, in the play. Marquez and fellow performers Jessica Barden (Cate) and Mark Stanley (Soldier) display through their physicality and expressions the things their characters cannot put into words, things too horrible to mention.

The problem with putting on a play like this is that its reputation precedes it, and if anything, I thought Wilson could have pushed things further. It's always hard to depict horrible acts on stage, but because the set was so believable, in some places the violence and sex were so sanitised that it actually became unclear what was meant to be occurring - which somewhat detracted from the visceral power of the play because it was clear that some of these things weren't 'really' happening. It's a dangerous play about a dangerous world - and whilst sometimes that came through, some of the more shocking moments in the script didn't entirely translate to the stage.

Overall, however, this was an engrossing performance that offers a strong start to what should, hopefully, be a vibrant season celebrating Kane's brief life and all-too-few works.