Cleansed- Merce

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In terms of Greek tragedy and Shakespearean influence just on a basic practical stagecraft level...well, removal of limbs is about as Greek Tragedy as you can get, re: Rod & Carl, and I always find Tinker injecting Graham in the eye reminiscent of Oedipus putting his own eyes out with a brooch.. <shudder> eye stuff makes me feel yukky. Dismemberings & severings onstage are also very Renaissance; they liked their gore. Lavinia in "Titus Andronicus" has her hands and tongue severed (offstage, though), Heironimo in "The Spanish Tragedy" bites his tongue out on stage and in Tourneur's "The Atheist's Tragedy" the villian smashes his own brains out with an axe... The most obvious Shakespeare allusion with "Cleansed" is "Twelfth Night"; the idea of one sibling being so devestated by the other's death (Viola thinking Sebastian has drowned) that they adopt their dead sibling's clothes/persona - justifying Viola's disguising herself as a man as a means of trying to come to terms with her brother's death by trying in inhabit his whole being. Think about Grace dressing in her dead brother's clothes in "Cleansed"...

Archive 3-10-2002

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First, thanx to responding to my (rethoric?) questions. I rather meant the situation of war, and, primarily, ethnic cleansing in the play to be the state of mind; I am, of course, aware of alegoric meaning of the text. Actually, I would not exactly call it an alegory; the mechanism of alegory is (at least in literature and theoretic sense) rather simple process: like translating "the code" of the text into "decoded" system of meaning. Sarah's work is in that sense for sure metaphore or even symbol, with much wider field of "the signified" than the space of "the signifier" is. That is why I am wondering in which way the "amalgame" of real (emotions and meanings) AND poetical metaphores may present the whole depth of these pictures. I am sure it has nothing to do with motivation of characters; characters and motives here function more like "exemplum" in mideaval moralities. I apologize for my, not enough precise, English.

Archive 6-10-2002

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WHAT IS MASOGENY?

Archive 31-12-2004

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This is a valid view. In the camp homosexual activity is punishable by death - perhaps being gay is something people can get sent to the camp for?

Sarah said of Blasted that war was the ultimate extension of the mentality behind a single act of violence, rape camps the ultimate extension of the mentality behind a single rape. Perhaps one interpretation of Cleansed could be that the ultimate extension of blind prejudice such as homophobia is this kind of prison camp?

Archive 3-10-2002

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For me cleansed in the world and society of the USA, it becomes a play the directly deals with the degredation of our society. The sexism and the homophobic trend that has been sweeping my poor nation over the past couple of years. A reamergence of masogeny into everyday life. That institutions don't actually teach us but shape us into who they think we should be. Does that make any sense?

Archive 3-10-2002

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While the play is primarily an allegory, I am sure Sarah meant the title to hint at the ethnic cleansing camps of former Yugoslavia.

She admired Jeremy Weller's 1998 show Soldiers, presented by real veterans of the Yugoslav war who talked about their experiences, so perhaps she might have been open to the idea of real former ethnic cleansing camp inmates performing Cleansed? It would certainly have been interesting.

I always thought one interpretation of the play could be that the characters form relationships as a way of coping with the awfulness of their situation. Would Carl and Rod have been attracted to each other had they been free? Would Tinker have fallen for Grace, or the second woman for him?...

Archive 2-10-2002

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As I can see that meny people deeply interested in Sarah's work are discussing here, I would like to put a question which is very importsnt for me to all of you: what could be the connection of space in Cleansed with real concentration camp and real state of war? I mean, I understand perfectly all the levels of metaphors and intertextuality in Cleansed (btw, I would be happy also to discuss about levels of Greek tragedy and Shakespearean theatre in Cleansed)...BUT - can you imagine the situation of artists who really lived though the war playing Cleansed? Would it be possible that it helps them to move and use those experiences? I must add that I am sure that Sarah's work can be approached only with deep and sincere personal attitude...Looking forward for any feedback!

Archive 29-9-2002