“Experiential, not speculative”: Love In and After In-Yer-Face

What is it about?

This chapter seeks to make the peculiar aesthetics of in-yer-face theatre graspable by comparing plays that treat the same topic in significantly different styles. Mark Ravenhill's 'Shopping and Fucking,' Sarah Kane's 'Cleansed' and Dennis Kelly's 'Love and Money' all revolve around love as a central theme. This thematic similarity renders the aesthetic differences especially visible and offers a fresh view on what makes the plays by Ravenhill and Kane typical examples of in-yer-face theatre.

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Why is it important?

The main argument of the chapter is that the most characteristic feature of in-yer-face theatre is an 'aesthetics of directness.' Rather than the shock value of its content, imagery, and lanuage, it is the verbal and visual directness with which topics are addressed and messages are communicated that defines in-yer-face theatre as a genre.