Cruel Encounters: Sarah Kane’s Cleansed and the Embodiment of Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty

Studies into in-yer-face theatre playwright Sarah Kane suggest that her plays are situated in various theoretical frameworks for close reading. However, few studies have been conducted within the theoretical framework of Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty to illustrate how Kane's IYFT plays are marked by the utilisation of avant-garde theatrical techniques, such as 'cruelty' and 'sensory engagement', to depict the socio-political and cultural paradigms of twentieth-century Britain in a nihilistic manner. This paper will address this gap by investigating how Kane's use of avant-garde theatrical techniques such as 'cruelty' and 'sensory disruption' resonates with Artaud's theatrical principles to depict the nihilistic socio-political landscape of twentieth-century Britain. The main objective of this article is to investigate how Kane's Cleansed (1998) is a representation of the Theatre of Cruelty due to the play's ability to shock, disturb and emotionally unsettle the audience. Through a close reading of the play and references to key scenes, this paper examines the playwright's deliberate departure from theatrical conventions in favour of sensory engagement and cruelty, aligning with Artaud's call for a theatre that bypasses rationality and engages the audience's senses. The findings in this study will illustrate that Cleansed (Kane, 1998) not only exemplifies Artaud's vision of theatre but also contributes to the theoretical frameworks and discourse surrounding Kane's work within IYFT. This study will conclude that analysing Kane's play through the framework of Theatre of Cruelty will provide insights into her avant-garde approach, which opens new avenues for analysing contemporary theatre plays.