In 1995 Sarah Kane’s seminal play Blasted shocked audiences and critics alike with its brutal honesty. Still as powerful as ever, the Lyric Hammersmith’s Artistic Director Sean Holmes stages its first London revival in almost 10 years.

Blasted is set in a hotel room in Leeds, where middle-aged tabloid journalist Ian, who openly flaunts his racist, homophobic and misogynistic views, brings a younger woman, Cate, to spend the night with him. As the audience is exposed to their progressively abusive relationship, their world shifts as a brutal civil war forces its way in.

Labelled in the 90s as ‘the most notorious playwright in Britain’ Kane’s Blasted forces the audience to confront the horrors of a broken world.

Blasted first opened at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in 1995. Directed by James MacDonald it made front-page headlines and outraged critics with its depiction of rape, torture and violence. This play has been reviled and revered in equal measure, but is undoubtedly an influential force that has shaped the landscape of 21st century drama.

Blasted is suitable for theatregoers aged 16 and older.

For more about Blasted at the Lyric Hammersmith read the First Night Feature.