References

Exploring Corporeality and Fluid Identities: An Analysis of Violence in the Perception of the Self in Sarah Kane’s play Cleansed (1997)

Pénélope Szulka

DOI : 10.54563/coupdetheatre.1249

p. 169-182

    Abstracts

    “Corporeality and Fluctuating Identities in Sarah Kane’s Cleansed” explores the fragile boundary between body and identity within a symbolic, shifting stage-space that merges prison, clinic, university, and concentration camp. Drawing on postmodern theory: Lyotard’s unrepresentable, Foucault’s body as a political site, and Kristeva’s abjection, the play reveals bodies as sites of systemic violence and existential despair. Kane’s dramaturgy refuses catharsis and narrative closure, presenting characters as archetypal “non-characters” through whom pain is enacted but unresolved. The visceral staging confronts audiences with raw suffering, challenging conventional theatrical morality and reshaping tragedy as an art of unveiling. Scenes of mutilation question identity’s limits and permeability. The institution functions like a Panopticon, surveilling and controlling bodies. By embracing fragmentation and raw theatricality, Cleansed destabilizes notions of selfhood and redemption, using the body as the primary site where power, pain, and identity are inscribed, resisted, and ultimately unmade in a fragmented, oppressive world.

    « Corporalité et identités fluctuantes dans Les Purifiés de Sarah Kane » explore la frontière fragile entre corps et identité au sein d’un espace scénique mouvant, fusionnant prison, clinique, université et camp de concentration. S’appuyant sur la théorie postmoderne : l’irreprésentable de Lyotard, le corps comme lieu politique selon Foucault, l’abjection de Kristeva, la pièce révèle le corps comme site de violences systémiques. La dramaturgie de Kane refuse catharsis et narration traditionnelle, présentant des « non-personnages » selon Sarrazac, à travers lesquels la douleur s’incarne sans résolution. La mise en scène viscérale confronte le spectateur à une souffrance brute, redéfinissant la tragédie comme art du dévoilement. Les scènes de mutilation interrogent les limites identitaires tandis que l'institution fonctionne comme un Panoptique surveillant les corps. Par la fragmentation et une théâtralité crue, Les Purifiés déstabilise subjectivité et rédemption, faisant du corps le lieu où pouvoir, douleur et identité s’inscrivent et se défont dans un monde fragmenté.

    Index

    Mots-clés

    Théâtre In-Yer-Face, Identité, Violence, Abjection, Fragmentation

    Keywords

    In-yer-face theatre, Identity, Violence, Abject, Fragmentation

    Excerpt

    Professor Elizabeth Angel Perez’s question regarding the boundary between one’s own body and the commencement of the world (Angel-Perez 2023: 145) serves as a theoretical departure for grasping the concepts of theatrical incarnation and corporeality in Sarah Kane’s plays. In her third play, Cleansed, the ideas of corporeal existence and incarnation are central both to the plot and to its symbolic framework. Written in 1997, Cleansed is set in a mysterious institution which could be interpreted as a mental hospital, a university, a prison, or, as often speculated, a concentration camp. The story revolves around misfit characters such as heroin-addict Graham, his sister Grace, and Carl and Rod, a homosexual couple. Their relationships are strained by Tinker’s ruthless cruelty as they endure scenes of violence, manipulation, and degradation that leave audiences grappling with questions of redemption and the limits of endurance. Indeed, the characters’ experiences blur the line between ...

    References

    Bibliographical reference

    Pénélope Szulka, « Exploring Corporeality and Fluid Identities: An Analysis of Violence in the Perception of the Self in Sarah Kane’s play Cleansed (1997) », Coup de théâtre, 39 | 2025, 169-182.

    Electronic reference

    Pénélope Szulka, « Exploring Corporeality and Fluid Identities: An Analysis of Violence in the Perception of the Self in Sarah Kane’s play Cleansed (1997) », Coup de théâtre [Online], 39 | 2025, Online since 01 décembre 2026, connection on 07 septembre 2026. DOI : 10.54563/coupdetheatre.1249

    Author

    Pénélope Szulka