Crave (play)
Encyclopedia
Crave is a one-act play by British playwright Sarah Kane
. It was first performed in 1998 by the theatre company Paines Plough
, with which Kane was writer-in-residence for the year, at the Traverse Theatre
, Edinburgh
. The play was initially presented under the pseudonym Marie Kelvedon; Kane used a pseudonym to avoid the distraction of her by then notorious reputation for graphic staged violence from her previous works. Crave was Kane's fourth play.
.
The author does not provide context, stage directions or descriptions of characters. The gender of the four characters (A, B, C, and M) is only identifiable from context within the play. Crave continues the theme of pain in love that Kane had explored with previous plays, but is stylistically a departure.
Kane incorporated numerous allusions in the text of the play, especially to The Waste Land
by T.S. Eliot.
, where Kane grew up. Kane included the following fictitious biography in the programme notes:
ic singer Björk
's song "An Echo, A Stain", released on the album Vespertine
in 2001, are based on this play.
Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane was an English playwright. Her plays deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture — both physical and psychological — and death. They are characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of...
. It was first performed in 1998 by the theatre company Paines Plough
Paines Plough
Paines Plough is a London-based British touring theatre company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall and director John Adams. They named the company after their favourite pub, the Plough, where they would drink pints of Paines....
, with which Kane was writer-in-residence for the year, at the Traverse Theatre
Traverse Theatre
The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963.The Traverse Theatre commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary playwrights. It also presents a large number of productions from visiting companies from across the UK. These include new plays,...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. The play was initially presented under the pseudonym Marie Kelvedon; Kane used a pseudonym to avoid the distraction of her by then notorious reputation for graphic staged violence from her previous works. Crave was Kane's fourth play.
Structure
The play represents a stylistic departure from previous works, using a non-linear, poetic style, and is notable for its lack of staged violence that had been a hallmark of Kane's previous work; this style is continued in her next and final work, 4.48 Psychosis4.48 Psychosis
4.48 Psychosis is a play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was her last work, first staged at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on June 23, 2000, nearly one and a half years after Kane's February 20, 1999 death...
.
The author does not provide context, stage directions or descriptions of characters. The gender of the four characters (A, B, C, and M) is only identifiable from context within the play. Crave continues the theme of pain in love that Kane had explored with previous plays, but is stylistically a departure.
Kane incorporated numerous allusions in the text of the play, especially to The Waste Land
The Waste Land
The Waste Land[A] is a 434-line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922. It has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." Despite the poem's obscurity—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its...
by T.S. Eliot.
"Marie Kelvedon"
The pseudonym "Marie Kelvedon" was based on the village of Kelvedon HatchKelvedon Hatch
Kelvedon Hatch is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex, England. It is situated just north of Pilgrims Hatch, approximately to the north of Brentwood and is surrounded by Metropolitan Green Belt. The village today is no longer a rural backwater with a large...
, where Kane grew up. Kane included the following fictitious biography in the programme notes:
Popular culture
The lyrics to IcelandIceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic singer Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
's song "An Echo, A Stain", released on the album Vespertine
Vespertine
Vespertine, is the fifth studio album by the Icelandic recording artist Björk, released on 27 August 2001. On this album, Björk creates a quiet, introverted world of microbeats and personal lyrics...
in 2001, are based on this play.