Cleansed, a drama in twenty scenes, is Sarah Kane’s third play. Set in “an institution designed to rid society of its undesirables”, according to the cover of the first edition of the playtext, “a group of inmates try to save themselves through love.” Using four interweaving storylines, Kane explores the theme of love, testing her characters by putting them in a concentration camp where they are subjected to horrendous atrocities. The main story is about Grace’s search for her brother Graham, an addict who’s been murdered by Tinker, a sadistic guard or doctor at the institution. Grace wears Graham’s clothes, dances with his spirit, makes love to him, and finally – after receiving a peni

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Published 18 June 2004

Citation: Sierz, Aleks, and Julie Waddington. "Cleansed". The Literary Encyclopedia. 18 June 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=15073, accessed 9 February 2010.]