Greed (acting)

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Greed is the fourth play by British playwright Sarah Kane . It premiered at the Traverse Theater in 1998 as part of the Edinburgh Festival .

action

Dramatis personae are the four voices A, B, C and M, about whose identities Kane gives no further information. In interviews, however, she stated the names of the characters; A stands for author or Aleister Crowley , antichrist and asshole, B for boy, M for mother / mother and C for child / child. In the play it remains open whether four different people or z. B. speak the thoughts of only one person. In often unrelated sentences, they address love and its desires and longings. Kane's language experiences a very dense imagery and poetry. Autobiographical traits can also be recognized - the very detailed declaration of love from A to an unnamed person is full of details and incidents that give the impression of truthfulness. All voices articulate their respective strong desires for solution and salvation - it remains open whether this can come through love or through death. The piece ends with a fall into light, which accordingly can be the fulfillment of the desire for love as for death.

shape

The form and content of greed are difficult to separate due to the fact that there are neither acting persons nor an actual act. The piece is carried by the richly pictorial language and its rhythm . Text does not follow one another in a logically understandable way, but rather complements each other to form a concert of the four voices. Kane himself stated that when it came to writing greed, it depended more on rhythm than on the logical order of sentences or sentence fragments. The piece was a musical and therefore touching experience for her. Nevertheless, she was averse to the idea of ​​a radio play of greed , as she saw the presence of people on stage as essential.

Reactions

Greed was critically acclaimed after the premiere. The departure from naturalism to poetry was welcomed , which, according to critics, facilitated access to the piece. The musical effect of the text on stage was praised. The four voices were represented by a younger man and woman and a middle-aged man and woman. The impression prevailed among the audience that it was actually the four voices of one person.

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