Blasted
By Sarah Kane

Directed by Benchmark Theatre Artistic Director Neil Truglio

October 20 - November 11, 2023
Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm with additional Sunday matinees at 2pm.

Industry Night Performance - Monday, Oct. 30th at 8pm
(No performances on Friday, November 3rd due to the First Friday art celebration along the 40West corridor or Sunday, November 5th.)


Blasted deals with adult content and themes including explicit material such as adult language and situations, sexual assault and simulated sexual interactions, nudity and extreme violence (staged). Please note that Blasted is a challenging script and will be extremely challenging for its audiences.

No one under the age of 18 is permitted unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Blasted’s initial performance in 1995 was highly controversial and the play was fiercely attacked by most newspaper critics, many of whom regarded it as an attempt to shock the audience. Blasted has since been recognized as a visceral and poetic investigation of the horrors of conflict and bloodshed, largely inspired by the Yugoslav wars. Beyond its violent action, Sarah Kane’s first play is lauded as a portrayal of how humanity attempts to survive in the face of unimaginable death and destruction. This 3 character drama will be Benchmark Theatre’s visceral response to the Russia/Ukraine war.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: Benchmark Theatre is an ADA-compliant facility. We have a ramp to our front door however it can be difficult to open the front door without assistance. Please contact us at info@benchmarktheatre.com to let us know how we may be of assistance for your visit and we will be sure to have our friendly box office staff available to assist or answer any questions you may have.

blasted

By Sarah Kane

CAST

IAN - Josh Levy

Josh is thrilled to be working with the Benchmark again.  You might have seen Josh in last year’s Benchmark production of An Octoroon. And prior to that you might of seen him jumping around a large tree as Scurios in the Aurora Fox’s production of Squirrels. Josh would like to thank Benchmark for this opportunity to perform in this incredibly challenging play by the great Sarah Kane. He also would like to thank Director Neil, Assistant Director Ashleigh, Intimacy Director Amelia, fellow actors Hillary and Jayce, and Stage Manager Andrew for the loving and supportive environment to  play in. A play like this takes trust, and he has felt that through and through. Lastly, Josh wants to give his special thanks to his wife Zarah and children Sophia and Miles for their endless support of his theatrical passion. 

CATE - Hillary Wheelock

Hillary Wheelock (she/they) is a Latina actor and fight choreographer. Blasted is her Colorado theatre premiere and she is signed with Wilhelmina Denver for film/print. Hillary is known for bilingual performance, including the Northeast Ohio regional Spanish premieres of Marisol (June), En el Tiempo de las Mariposas (María Teresa), and Uz, el Pueblo with Teatro Público de Cleveland. At Cleveland Public Theatre, she was in the premiere casts of An Xmas Cuento Remix (National New Play Network rolling world premiere – Anita/Elena/Young Elena) and The Family Claxon (Catie). Her acting work has been featured at convergence-continuum (Massacre – Lila, Collaborator - Cass, Harm’s Way – Isle of Mercy), Ensemble Theatre (The Neverending Story - Atreyu, Twelfth Night - Viola), Mamai Theatre Company (Three Sisters – Natasha), and Theatre Ninjas. She spent seven seasons with the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, playing roles like Miranda, Puck, Mercutio, Jaques, Silvia, Nerissa, and Biron. Follow her on Instagram: @hillarywheelock.

SOLDIER - Jayce Johnson

Jayce (he/they) received his B.F.A. from the Hartt School of Music and went on to co-found the N.Y.C.-based Royalty Free Theatre for which he wrote, directed, and performed, with roles including Sebastian in “Twelfth Night,” and Richard in “Henry VI Parts 1-3” and “Richard III.” Among his favorite local roles are Henri in Pandemic Collective’s “La Baiser dans la nuit,” Alan McCarthy in Vintage Theatre’s “The Boys in the Band,” and Adolfo Pirelli in “Sweeney Todd.” Jayce is excited to be making his Benchmark Theater debut! 

CREATIVE TEAM

Director - Neil Truglio

Intimacy Director - Amelia Morse

Assistant Director - Ashleigh Davis

Scenic Design - Paul Christian Edris

Light Design - Brett Maughan

Sound Design - Neil Truglio

Costume Design - Chantelle Frazier

Military Advisor - Dave Glatfelter

Sarah Kane (Playwright):

Sarah Kane was an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological—and death. They are characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of extreme and violent stage action.

Kane herself and scholars of her work, such as Graham Saunders, have identified some of her inspirations as expressionist theatre and Jacobean tragedy.[1] The critic Aleks Sierz saw her work as part of a confrontational style and sensibility of drama termed "in-yer-face theatre". Sierz originally called Kane "the quintessential in-yer-face writer of the [1990s]"[2] but later remarked in 2009 that although he initially "thought she was very typical of the new writing of the middle 1990s. The further we get away from that in time, the more un-typical she seems to be".[3]

Kane's published work consists of five plays, the short film Skin, and two newspaper articles for The Guardian.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Stage Manager - Andrew Horn

Master Carpenter - Paul Christian Edris

Scenic Carpenters - Andrew Horn, Tim Horn & Neil Truglio

Rehearsal Photography - Neil Truglio

Production Photography - RDG Photography

Producer & Front of House Management - Haley Johnson

Front of House Volunteers - Colby Bleicher, Andrew Catterall, Hayley Emerson, Dante Finely, Alicia & Tim Horn, Collee Lee, Heidi Markley, Pat Salas, Gloria Shanstrom, Andrea Tucker & Karen Wibrew

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

April Alsup, Rachel Clark

Haley Johnson & Gloria Shanstrom

BENCHMARK EXECUTIVE TEAM

Executive Director - Haley Johnson

Artistic Director - Neil Truglio

Strategic & Marketing Director - Marc Stith

SPECIAL THANKS

40West Arts, Chicano Humanities & Arts Council, Colorado Theatre Guild, The E Project Board of Directors, Lakewood BID, The Scientific & Cultural Facilities District, Vintage Theatre; Beck, Brit & Chantelle, Alicia & Tim Horn, Jack Johnson, Marcus & Mason, Bill Marino, Joseph & Mary Pirozzoli, Tom Quinn (Battle 4 Heaven Productions), Glenn & Kathy Truglio, Andrea Tucker