Jul 15, 2026 · 33 min · 12 segments
Send us Fan Mail After a string of recent successes, Pearl Chanda is gearing up for her return to the Almeida Theatre in Rebecca Frecknall’s summer…
Pearl ChandaGuest
Carlos TsengHost
I, I read that you've often said that, you know, one of the hardest jobs that you've ever done was Crave by Sarah Kane, so I was wondering what was it about Cleansed that made you want to return to her world and to take on this project?
Well, Crave w- was the hardest job I've ever done, mainly because you have to be so present.
That's how nervous I was every single time, because you really didn't know how it was going to go.
there were some, uh, some shows where we would repeat four pages over and over again and not know how we were gonna come out of it.
But that level of presence, which is very frightening, is also very liberating and very exciting, and, um, helps you, I think, as an actor.
So I sort of knew that Sarah Kane's work are sort of experiments in the very present, and that's always a very exciting challenge.
So it's an interesting, um... it's an interesting, uh, piece to discover with the group because you... her language does need attack, and because it's so sparse in Cleansed, every word is very thought through, and that is very difficult [laughs] when it's so lean.
But it is also, like, it's kind of being a bit of a detective at the moment and trying lots of really bad versions of it and, um, and then suddenly you realize what is being said or meant or the rhythm.
I mean, it's interesting, you know, underneath the brutality, I mean, Sarah Kane has always said that Cleansed is fundamentally a play about love.
Um, I was wondering, you know, how do you anchor yourself to that love amidst all of the violence?
I, I read that you've often said that, you know, one of the hardest jobs that you've ever done was Crave by Sarah Kane, so I was wondering what was it about Cleansed that made you want to return to her world and to take on this project?
Well, Crave w- was the hardest job I've ever done, mainly because you have to be so present.
That's how nervous I was every single time, because you really didn't know how it was going to go.
there were some, uh, some shows where we would repeat four pages over and over again and not know how we were gonna come out of it.
But that level of presence, which is very frightening, is also very liberating and very exciting, and, um, helps you, I think, as an actor.
So I sort of knew that Sarah Kane's work are sort of experiments in the very present, and that's always a very exciting challenge.
So it's an interesting, um... it's an interesting, uh, piece to discover with the group because you... her language does need attack, and because it's so sparse in Cleansed, every word is very thought through, and that is very difficult [laughs] when it's so lean.
But it is also, like, it's kind of being a bit of a detective at the moment and trying lots of really bad versions of it and, um, and then suddenly you realize what is being said or meant or the rhythm.
I mean, it's interesting, you know, underneath the brutality, I mean, Sarah Kane has always said that Cleansed is fundamentally a play about love.
Um, I was wondering, you know, how do you anchor yourself to that love amidst all of the violence?
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