Catharsis sau anticatharsis? Analiza efectului cathartic în teatrul lui Sarah Kane, cu referire la Cleansed

Abstract

Catharsis or Anticatharsis? An Analysis of the Cathartic Effect in Sarah Kane’s Theatre, with Reference to Cleansed
This article examines the cathartic potential of Sarah Kane’s theatre, with particular reference to Cleansed, and investigates whether the intense physical and emotional experience generated by in-yer-face theatre produces catharsis or, conversely, an anticathartic effect. Starting from the transformation of the relationship between author, work, and spectator in postdramatic theatre, the study discusses the active role of the audience in the construction of meaning and traces the development of catharsis from Aristotle’s theory of tragedy to Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty. The analysis argues that, in Kane’s theatre, catharsis is no longer based exclusively on pity and fear, but also on shock, bodily involvement, discomfort, and the spectator’s direct confrontation with violence. Drawing on theoretical perspectives provided by Hans-Thies Lehmann, Aleks Sierz, Roland Barthes, Friedrich Schiller, and Artaud, the article considers how Cleansed transforms extreme suffering into a theatrical experience centered on love, vulnerability, redemption, and survival. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between dramatic text, staging, and reception. The study suggests that shock alone does not guarantee catharsis. A cathartic experience can emerge even through an anti-cathartic one if violence is integrated into a meaningful, affective and symbolic framework, allowing the spectator to transform visceral reactions into contemplation. When this transformation fails, the performance may instead produce rejection, emotional blockage, or anticatharsis. Thus, the cathartic effect of Cleansed depends both on the director’s artistic choices and on the spectator’s willingness to engage with the performance.