A couple of weeks ago Peter and I went to see Blasted at the Malthouse Theatre. From the synopsis we weren't quite sure what to expect. To say it packed a punch would be an understatement.
The play begins with Ian and Cate entering a hotel room. There is a quiet discomfort in their age difference. Ian is sexist, racist, homophobic and a misogynist. Cate is young, naive, trusting. Ian has all the power even before we discover he has a gun. He manipulates Cate, putting her down and then telling her he loves her. The audience's unease escalates as Ian repeatedly tries to coerce her into having sex. It is later implied that he was successful, and Cate's physical pain suggests consent wasn't entirely given. In a later scene, while Cate is unconscious, her lifeless body becomes temptation for Ian. Cate awakes to find Ian having sex with her. The tension is ratcheted up another level with Cate's sobbing screams while a gun is pointed at her head.
A knock at the door breaks the tension. Room service. Cate slinks out to the bathroom. She returns, compliant. Scheming, she lulls Ian with her offer of affection. She has the gun now. The power play between them see-saws. Cate takes her belongings into the bathroom for a shower. Another knock at the door. A soldier bursts into the room, in full camouflage fatigues...and a rifle. The power in the room shifts again. It's discovered that Cate has escaped from the bathroom. Ian is alone. The two men talk of paperwork (Ian is a journalist in a foreign country). The soldier points out that everything that happens in the room is within his power. The back wall is blown away, exposing a scene of debris both outside and within the room. Smoke creates a confusing haze in the room. It reminds me of footage on the news, seeing countries bombed and people's homes blown apart. Walls collapsed, we see what is left of people's lives inside these shattered dolls houses. It is a familiar sight I have seen during news broadcasts my entire life. The soldier now has both guns.
He tells Ian of the atrocities he has seen. Men killed and tortured. Women raped and tortured. The soldier tells Ian about a family that was discovered hiding. The group of soldiers exerted power over everyone, including the gang rape of a 12 year old girl. He explains the horror he discovered, returning home and finding his beloved girlfriend tortured and murdered. Parts of her face cut off before they raped and killed her. This is the dehumanising face of war. Regular rules do not apply. The soldier sets about revenge. He offers Ian a choice...kill himself or be raped. Slowly the soldier begins to strip Ian of any power and humanity. Revenge for his lost love also includes an eye for an eye...literally. Ian is blinded.
The horror peaks and the soldier kills himself. Inflicting pain on others does not cease the pain of a lost love, or the realisation of who he has become. Ian is alone, blind, existing simple because he continues to breathe. Cate reappears. Wet, covered in mud and a dried smear of blood inside her thigh. She has survived the war zone. She has a baby, someone in the village thrust into her arms. The baby dies and Cate buries it with care and as much ceremony and respect war will allow. She leaves. Ian, abandoned again for what must be days or weeks, is starving. He retrieves the baby's body and sobs as he bites into flesh. What has he been reduced to? He climbs into the grave with the child's body. Rain falls.
Cate returns after obtaining food and alcohol by 'befriending' soldiers. She feeds Ian and is gentle with him. Almost playful. She wraps the abandoned quilt from the hotel bed around her. The white fabric reflects against her grimy face. Amongst all the horror she is a sign of hope, humanity and survival. The lights go up. A few people in front of us do not clap. The acting is outstanding but this was an uncomfortable experience. The back of the theatre program said that the violence was inspired by football hooligans and the Bosnian war. None of it was made up. It was inspired by real life events. This felt like an additional kick in the chest.
Peter and I talked all the way home. Trying to unpack and make sense of what we had just experienced. Sarah Kane (we later discover) was a young english playwright who committed suicide aged 28. On reading she was influenced by Samuel Beckett, things began to fall into place. I struggled trying to understand the narrative of the play. When I think back to year 12 English Literature class and reading Waiting for Godot, all these years later a light bulb had gone off. The who, when and where of the narrative are not as important as the what and the why. Why. WHY? This is an exploration of violence. It is, disappointingly, timeless. Replace football hooligan with domestic violence, and Bosnia with Syria. Step back in time and apply the story to other groups or places. The essence remains the same.
A number of years ago I was talking with someone at work, recommending tv shows to watch. She said she and her boyfriend had put a ban on any show that had violence against women as the storyline. I was watching The Fall after a long spate of scandi noir or gritty english crime dramas. Fuck. Everything we watched fell into that category. Even Game of Thrones. We have continued in this vein in our viewing habits (occasionally lightened with comedies). But the movie or tv screen creates a wall. It gives us distance from the horror and violence, even if it is unsettling. But theatre is different. There was no escaping what happened to the characters in front of us. We are in the room with them, complicit by our silence. This is the power of a live performance. It was, at times, harrowing.
I have thought about Blasted a lot since we saw it. I needed to read other reviews and analysis to help it make sense. Sometimes it is important to watch things that make us feel uncomfortable. To challenge us. Make us think deeply about society and behaviour. Make us act out and speak up. We can no longer stay silent after witnessing the atrocities. Shows such as the Handmaid's Tale have a similar effect. It's not something you 'enjoy' but the themes galvanise your beliefs. And similarly, Blasted shows the light and dark of what it is to be human. And we are rooting that amongst the terror, hope and humanity will continue and even win.
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