Sarah Kane, Crave

Graham Saunders (University of Reading); Aleks Sierz (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1998

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Sarah Kane's fourth play was commissioned by Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director (and subsequently director of Crave), of the new writing company Paines Plough. It was written partly in Britain and partly in the United States while Kane was working for New Dramatists, a New York new writing company. Crave is noteworthy in that it marked a shift in terms of formal structure. More of a tone poem than a conventional drama, the published playtext states: “Crave marks a departure in Sarah's work. Having pioneered a new theatre where brutality and action express an emotional narrative, here she deploys language like music. Rhythm and orchestration are as vital here as content to understanding and responding to the …

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1619 words

Citation: Saunders, Graham, Aleks Sierz. "Crave". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 June 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=15074, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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