‘She plumbed our secret, shameful depths’: why are Sarah Kane’s plays still so shocking?

The writer, who took her life 25 years ago this month, wrote five searing dramas that took in everything from despair to love, from mutilation to cannibalism. What was it like to direct or star in them?

Vicky Featherstone, former artistic director of the Royal Court, on Blasted. In the play, journalist Ian brings the much younger Cate back to his hotel room in Leeds and tries to seduce her. Then a soldier enters brandishing a gun, triggering scenes of rape, violence and cannibalism. Premiered at the Royal Court, London, in 1995.