| Cleansed | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Sarah Kane |
| Characters | Graham Tinker Carl Rod Grace Robin Woman |
| Date premiered | 30 April 1998 |
| Place premiered | Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, London |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | In-yer-face theatre |
| Setting | A university |
Cleansed is the third play by the English playwright Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1998 at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs in London. The play is set in a university which (according to the blurb of the published script) is operating as "an institution designed to rid society of its undesirables" where "a group of inmates try to save themselves through love" while under the rule of the sadistic Tinker.[1][2] When the play premiered at the Royal Court in April 1998, Kane played the part of Grace for the last three performances because of an injury that the original actress suffered.[1]
It is sometimes claimed that Tinker was named after the theatre critic for British newspaper The Daily Mail, Jack Tinker, whose review of Kane's first play Blasted was headlined "this disgusting feast of filth", but there does not appear to be any evidence of Kane confirming this.[1]
Sarah Kane's brother and executor of her estate, Simon Kane, in 2005 remarked that "overseas many, many people think that Cleansed is Sarah's best play."[3]