tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post2110837928856458527..comments2024-03-29T03:39:42.411-04:00Comments on The Wicked Stage: Blasted v. RuinedRob Weinert-Kendthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015688507553252146noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-21575503588118854942009-04-21T08:55:00.000-04:002009-04-21T08:55:00.000-04:00Having seen both in the past few months--"Blasted"...Having seen both in the past few months--"Blasted" at Soho Rep and "Ruined" at MTC, I can offer this: Each play was given the best possible production, from design to direction to performance, but "Ruined," though not a perfect play, was better in almost every way. Blasted is a contemporary Gran Guignol, and it's only merit, if you can call it that, is vileness. Both plays plumb the absolute bottom of human behavior, but Nottage doesn't seem, as Kane did, to take a perverse delight in it. The difference isn't redemption, which I found a little too tidy and precious in "Ruined"--it is the perspective of the playwright. Nottage is an artist; Kane was a suicide.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com