The play starts in a posh Leeds hotel room: a middle-aged journalist and a young woman reconnect — but their night turns sour, revealing manipulation, cruelty, and power games.
Then, without warning, the outside world crashes in. The hotel is blasted open by war, and a soldier enters, bringing graphic violence, sexual assault, and the collapse of any sense of safety.
The play spirals into a surreal, nightmarish vision where personal abuse and the horrors of war become indistinguishable.
When it premiered in 1995, Blasted shocked audiences with its brutality, but Kane’s aim was to confront how violence in private mirrors violence in public. It’s raw, disturbing, and unforgettable, a modern classic of in-yer-face theatre that refuses to look away.
Blasted by Sarah Kane
