Violence and sexuality in In-Yer-Face drama: Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love, Mark Ravenhill’s Some Explicit Polaroids, and Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator

Abstract

In-yer-face theatre arising in the 1990s in Britain is generally renowned for staging extreme and explicit images of violence and sexuality. This study aims to discuss the nature of violence and sexuality in in-yer-face drama as part of a continuum in dramatic history, by considering it as a descendant of Ancient Greek Theatre, Jacobean Theatre and Theatre of Cruelty. Through brief studies of past aesthetic movements, in-yer-face theatre is situated within Western dramatic tradition in terms of its similarities as well as differences. Three plays by provocative contemporary playwrights are studied in detail. The concepts of violence and sexuality are examined in Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love (1996), Mark Ravenhill’s Some Explicit Polaroids (1999), and Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator (1993). Kane’s Phaedra’s Love explores the violence inherent in the language through portraying the clash of symbolic and literal levels of language. Ravenhill’s play, Some Explicit Polaroids investigates the violence in the creation and perception of body as an image that is generated by the global capitalist system. Lastly, Neilson’s Penetrator examines the violence in sexuality by showing the clash of private and public reality and how the prohibitions and taboos of the society impede the expression of private reality with regards to sexuality.