I think this may have overtaken Blasted and Cleansed as the most disturbing thing I've ever read.

Yesterday night, I saw the play "Saved", by Edward Bond, with 2 friends of mine. It was translated in Greek, but I'm sure it doesn't lose anything of the original English text in the translation, which was excellent. The play lasted a little more than 3 hours, which in itself was exhausting. So, one first comment is that, while "Saved" is good writing, & the characters come alive...still, why 3 hours? Definitely overlong, in my opinion.

"Saved" is basically the story of a family. A father & mother, who hate each other & won't even address each other by name, but still live in the same house. Their daughter, who is a very sick young woman, maybe suffers from bipolar disorder & clearly has severe psychological problems. This woman, Pam, forms a relationship with a young man (Len) who seems kind of a loser, but is kind & caring nontheless. In the beginning, they promise that they'll be different from Pam's parents...but of course, this promise soon, too soon, is forgotten. Still, Len is the only person that stands by Pam, when she's most in need, & even after she falls desperately in love with another man, who couldn't care less about her.

The rest of the story I won't reveal. "Saved" is basically the story of extreme unhappiness in one family, a family that choses silence & sometimes loud, violent fights over talking & trying to communicate. They don't know HOW to communicate, all they know is shouting, hating, throwing things & crying. This is a very sad (but powerful) play, very violent at parts, which is the reason for the 3 stars: I can understand & appreciate characters with problems. But there's one scene which has to do with a baby, which broke my heart while I was watching it, & which I can't seem to get over. I know it is a powerful scene, & I know that many people might argue that it's the most meaningful scene in the play. But I just found it too cruel to be meaningful. ( )