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A review by emsemsems
Crave by Sarah Kane
4.0
“I crave white on white and black, but my thoughts race in glorious technicolour, prodding me awake, whipping away the warm blanket of invisibility every time it sears to smother my mind in nothing.”
So brilliant, so fucking poetic, and so much like a poem even though it’s supposed to be just a play. Reading ‘Crave’ felt a lot like reading a long poem. Even though technically there are 4 characters in the plays, I feel like they overlap each other a lot; it was not easy to tell them apart. And because the names are single-lettered – without any indication of whether or not it’s merely an initial, it was hard to tell the characters apart. It’s much easier to read the play without trying to pick them apart too much.
Somewhere in the middle of the play, ‘A’ (one of the characters) goes on in an almost ‘stream of consciousness’ kind of way – presenting the readers/play-attendees with almost a page long of unpunctuated lines that holds together this bit that I like : “and think I’m losing myself but know I’m safe with you and tell you the worst of me and try to give you the best of me because you don’t deserve any less and answer your question when I’d rather not and tell you the truth when I really don’t want to”. It’s hard to tell who ‘A’ is referring to, but I’m not bothered by not knowing. I think whatever that was offered/presented in the play was enough; as if knowing more would be unnecessary.
‘A’ finishes the whole incredible thing with : “it’s beautiful learning to know you and well worth the effort and speak German to you badly and Hebrew to you worse and make love with you at three in the morning and somehow somehow somehow communicate some of the overwhelming undying overpowering unconditional all-encompassing heart-enriching mind-expanding on-going never-ending love I have for you”. It’s a bit of a breath-ey read, but I think it’s interesting how Kane has written this bit in for A/the play in general. It’s so cleverly placed and so cleverly composed. It feels manically poetic, adequately discomforting, and so sharply poignant.
And then there are some lines/descriptions that don’t make much sense, and probably does not bind the play together in any significant or majorly important way, but I truly appreciate the tone and atmosphere they bring to the play. I keep thinking about them long after I finish reading it – wishing that I had come up with those lines instead. Kane is/was such a brilliant writer/playwright – there’s simply no doubt in that. Even though the play is not set in any specific location(s), there are some descriptions of some dreamy/vague landscapes that complements the vibe of the play very well. Perhaps because of that, I did not mind how unconventional/peculiar the play was in terms of setting and characterisation. I’d go as far as to say that it was as if the conversations between the characters were taken place in someone’s mind.
M Sunny landscapes. Pastel walls. Gentle air conditioning.
M A cold fuck and a goldfish memory.
I almost wish that this was a poem instead of a play. But I do think that having very different actors/actresses play out the four characters in the play would allow for the best experience of this brilliant piece of work/art. As with most plays, it’s better to go see it play out on the stage (to get the full effect/experience of it), but I think I was able to enjoy this as it is with a little bit of imagination.
So brilliant, so fucking poetic, and so much like a poem even though it’s supposed to be just a play. Reading ‘Crave’ felt a lot like reading a long poem. Even though technically there are 4 characters in the plays, I feel like they overlap each other a lot; it was not easy to tell them apart. And because the names are single-lettered – without any indication of whether or not it’s merely an initial, it was hard to tell the characters apart. It’s much easier to read the play without trying to pick them apart too much.
Somewhere in the middle of the play, ‘A’ (one of the characters) goes on in an almost ‘stream of consciousness’ kind of way – presenting the readers/play-attendees with almost a page long of unpunctuated lines that holds together this bit that I like : “and think I’m losing myself but know I’m safe with you and tell you the worst of me and try to give you the best of me because you don’t deserve any less and answer your question when I’d rather not and tell you the truth when I really don’t want to”. It’s hard to tell who ‘A’ is referring to, but I’m not bothered by not knowing. I think whatever that was offered/presented in the play was enough; as if knowing more would be unnecessary.
‘A’ finishes the whole incredible thing with : “it’s beautiful learning to know you and well worth the effort and speak German to you badly and Hebrew to you worse and make love with you at three in the morning and somehow somehow somehow communicate some of the overwhelming undying overpowering unconditional all-encompassing heart-enriching mind-expanding on-going never-ending love I have for you”. It’s a bit of a breath-ey read, but I think it’s interesting how Kane has written this bit in for A/the play in general. It’s so cleverly placed and so cleverly composed. It feels manically poetic, adequately discomforting, and so sharply poignant.
And then there are some lines/descriptions that don’t make much sense, and probably does not bind the play together in any significant or majorly important way, but I truly appreciate the tone and atmosphere they bring to the play. I keep thinking about them long after I finish reading it – wishing that I had come up with those lines instead. Kane is/was such a brilliant writer/playwright – there’s simply no doubt in that. Even though the play is not set in any specific location(s), there are some descriptions of some dreamy/vague landscapes that complements the vibe of the play very well. Perhaps because of that, I did not mind how unconventional/peculiar the play was in terms of setting and characterisation. I’d go as far as to say that it was as if the conversations between the characters were taken place in someone’s mind.
M Sunny landscapes. Pastel walls. Gentle air conditioning.
M A cold fuck and a goldfish memory.
I almost wish that this was a poem instead of a play. But I do think that having very different actors/actresses play out the four characters in the play would allow for the best experience of this brilliant piece of work/art. As with most plays, it’s better to go see it play out on the stage (to get the full effect/experience of it), but I think I was able to enjoy this as it is with a little bit of imagination.