Cate Blanchett: National Theatre issues warning over sexually explicit play

A play starring acclaimed Australian actor Cate Blanchett is so violent and sexually explicit it has prompted a warning about its confronting content.

A play starring acclaimed Australian actor Cate Blanchett is so violent and sexually explicit it is causing audience members to faint, and has prompted a belated warning from the National Theatre in London about its confronting content.

Oscar-winner Blanchett is starring in the offbeat production When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, a play which features sex toys, violence against women and a group of four people have sex in a car.

London’s National Theatre issued a warning over the sexually explicit content in ‘When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other’, which stars Cate Blanchett. Picture: Supplied

The Times revealed one elderly woman fainted in shock at the opening preview last week, and that it is predicted to be the most controversial UK production this year. It has also generated such interest a lottery was introduced for tickets.

The show, which also stars actor Stephen Dillane, widely known as evil king Stannis Baratheon in Game of Thrones, is a story of sexual domination and explores the violent sexual relationship between an employer (Dillane) and his female employee (Blanchett), loosely adapted from an 18th-century novel.

Blanchett, who last appeared on stage in London seven years ago, earlier this month told the Guardian that “some people might be enraged, some perplexed, some people might be excited”.

The controversial production also features Stephen Dillane, who played Stannis Baratheon in Game of Thrones. Picture: Supplied

The National Theatre has posted a “content advisory’’ on its website about the play, warning: “This production contains adult themes and violent scenes of a sexual nature, that some people may find distressing.’’

The Times revealed the theatre had also sent emails to those due to attend the second preview, apologising for the late warning about the sexual and violent content.

The theatre said the play had been “shrouded in secrecy” and that it was only now “finding out more about it”.

Blanchett, who last appeared on stage in London seven years ago, earlier this month told the Guardian that “some people might be enraged over the show. Picture: Tim P. Whitby/Getty

An actor at the preview, Samuel Tucker, told The Times the play was “sexually explicit and incredibly violent right from the start”.

“The whole thing is a bit much, to be honest,” he said. “It is so in-your-face violent and so in-your-face sexual and if you are not about that life, it might come across as shocking.”

He added that it was an “incredibly brave performance’’ by Blanchett.