4.48 Psychosis is the final play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was her last work, first staged at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on 23 June 2000, directed by James Macdonald, nearly one and a half years after Kane's death on 20 February 1999. The play has no explicit characters or stage directions. Stage productions of the play vary greatly, therefore, with between one and several actors in performance; the original production featured three actors. According to Kane's friend and fellow-playwright David Greig, the title of the play derives from the time, 4:48 a.m., when Kane, in her depressed state, often woke.[1]
The play is usually interpreted as an expression of the experience of clinical depression, a disorder from which Kane suffered. She died by suicide after writing the play, before its initial performance. Contemplation and discussion of suicide are prominent and while there is no strict narrative or timeline, certain issues and events are clearly dealt with: deciding whether to take medication to treat depression, the desires of the depressed mind, the effects and effectiveness of medication, self-harm, suicide and the possible causes of depression. Other themes that run throughout the script, in addition to depression, are those of isolation, dependency, relationships, and love.
Form
4.48 Psychosis is composed of twenty-four sections which have no specified setting, characters or stage directions. Its language varies between dialogues, confessions and contemplative poetic monologues reminiscent of schizophasia. Certain images are repeated within the script, particularly that of "hatch opens, stark light"; a repeated motif in the play is "serial sevens" which involves counting down from one hundred by sevens, a bedside test often used by psychiatrists to test for loss of concentration or memory.
Productions
Owing to its form, productions of the play differ vastly in their staging, casting and design. Aside from the initial production of 4.48 Psychosis at the Royal Court in 2000, there have been performances of 4.48 Psychosis at The Theatre Les Bouffes Du Nord in Paris (2005), Belarus Free Theatre in Minsk (2005), KUFER theatre in Croatia (2005.), Old Red Lion Theatre (Tangram Theatre, 2006), Arcola Theatre (2006), the Young Vic Theatre (2009), the Barbican Theatre (TR Warszawa, Easter 2010), Access Theatre (Raw Theatre Group, Easter 2010), The Theatre Project (Off Off-Broadway - The Red Room, Summer 2010), ADC Theatre (October 2010), York Theatre Royal (March 2011), Sittingbourne Community College Theatre Company (July 2011), The Hamilton Fringe Festival at Theatre Aquarius [Black Box Fire Theatre Company, July 2011] and the George Ignatieff Theatre at University of Toronto (27–29 October 2011), Fourth Monkey Theatre Company (March 2012), Rangi Ruru Girls' School performed it in the New Zealand Theatre Federation Festival (September 2012), Crooked Pieces (Drayton Theatre London, September 2012), The Questors Theatre (January 2015), director Roza Sarkisian and Theatre Actor, Kyiv, Ukraine (2018), Anton's Well Theater Company, Oakland, California (July—August 2018), and Chico State Theater Company at California State University, Chico (December 2022).
A critically acclaimed adaptation of the play, as translated into Polish with English language surtitles, was performed at the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival by the Polish theatre company TR Warszawa. The production starred Polish film actress Magdalena Cielecka and featured a number of other performers from TR Warszawa in supporting roles. This was a revival of TR Warszawa's earlier production of the play, as performed in Warsaw.[2] In 2003, there was a successful staging in Brazil, which played to a full house for six consecutive months in São Paulo, and also gained media attention for its defying gender aspect, as the role was performed by male actor Luiz Päetow.[3] Indian director Arvind Gaur performed this play as a one-woman show with British actress Ruth Sheard in 2005.[4]
Reception
4.48 Psychosis has divided critical opinions. Michael Billington of The Guardian newspaper asked, "How on earth do you award aesthetic points to a 75-minute suicide note?"[5] Charles Spencer of the Telegraph said "it is impossible not to view it as a deeply personal howl of pain.”[6]David Greig considered the play to be "perhaps uniquely painful in that it appears to have been written in the almost certain knowledge that it would be performed posthumously."[1]
Opera
An operatic adaptation of 4.48 Psychosis, commissioned by Royal Opera and written by British composer Philip Venables, was staged at the Lyric Hammersmith in 2016. The first such adaptation of Kane's works, the production was approved by Sarah Kane's brother, and received critical acclaim.[7][8][9]
References to the play
The British indie-rock band Tindersticks released a song called "4.48 Psychosis" on their album Waiting for the Moon. The song's spoken-word lyrics are excerpted from the play.
References
^ abDavid Greig, introduction to Sarah Kane: Complete Plays 2001
^Wroe, Nicholas (21 May 2016). "How Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis became an opera". the Guardian.
^"4.48 Psychosis review". The Independent. 26 May 2016. from the original on 18 June 2016.
^"4.48 Psychosis opera is rawly powerful and laceratingly honest - review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
Citations
Greig, David. 2001. Introduction. Complete Plays by Sarah Kane. London: Methuen. ISBN978-0-413-74260-5. p.ix-xviii.
Kane, Sarah. 2001. 4:48 Psychosis. In Complete Plays. London: Methuen, 2001. ISBN978-0-413-74260-5. p. 203-245.
Ryan, Betsy Alayne. 1984. Gertrude Stein's Theatre of the Absolute. Theater and Dramatic Studies Ser., 21. Ann Arbor and London: UMI Research Press. ISBN0-8357-2021-7.
psychosis, final, play, british, playwright, sarah, kane, last, work, first, staged, royal, court, jerwood, theatre, upstairs, june, 2000, directed, james, macdonald, nearly, half, years, after, kane, death, february, 1999, play, explicit, characters, stage, d. 4 48 Psychosis is the final play by British playwright Sarah Kane It was her last work first staged at the Royal Court s Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on 23 June 2000 directed by James Macdonald nearly one and a half years after Kane s death on 20 February 1999 The play has no explicit characters or stage directions Stage productions of the play vary greatly therefore with between one and several actors in performance the original production featured three actors According to Kane s friend and fellow playwright David Greig the title of the play derives from the time 4 48 a m when Kane in her depressed state often woke 1 4 48 PsychosisWritten bySarah KaneCharactersNoneDate premiered23 June 2000 2000 06 23 Place premieredRoyal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs LondonOriginal languageEnglishSubjectClinical depressiondissociationdisappearing from existenceSettingNone Contents 1 Subject 2 Form 3 Productions 4 Reception 5 Opera 6 References to the play 7 References 8 Citations 9 Further reading 10 External linksSubject EditThe play is usually interpreted as an expression of the experience of clinical depression a disorder from which Kane suffered She died by suicide after writing the play before its initial performance Contemplation and discussion of suicide are prominent and while there is no strict narrative or timeline certain issues and events are clearly dealt with deciding whether to take medication to treat depression the desires of the depressed mind the effects and effectiveness of medication self harm suicide and the possible causes of depression Other themes that run throughout the script in addition to depression are those of isolation dependency relationships and love Form Edit4 48 Psychosis is composed of twenty four sections which have no specified setting characters or stage directions Its language varies between dialogues confessions and contemplative poetic monologues reminiscent of schizophasia Certain images are repeated within the script particularly that of hatch opens stark light a repeated motif in the play is serial sevens which involves counting down from one hundred by sevens a bedside test often used by psychiatrists to test for loss of concentration or memory Productions EditOwing to its form productions of the play differ vastly in their staging casting and design Aside from the initial production of 4 48 Psychosis at the Royal Court in 2000 there have been performances of 4 48 Psychosis at The Theatre Les Bouffes Du Nord in Paris 2005 Belarus Free Theatre in Minsk 2005 KUFER theatre in Croatia 2005 Old Red Lion Theatre Tangram Theatre 2006 Arcola Theatre 2006 the Young Vic Theatre 2009 the Barbican Theatre TR Warszawa Easter 2010 Access Theatre Raw Theatre Group Easter 2010 The Theatre Project Off Off Broadway The Red Room Summer 2010 ADC Theatre October 2010 York Theatre Royal March 2011 Sittingbourne Community College Theatre Company July 2011 The Hamilton Fringe Festival at Theatre Aquarius Black Box Fire Theatre Company July 2011 and the George Ignatieff Theatre at University of Toronto 27 29 October 2011 Fourth Monkey Theatre Company March 2012 Rangi Ruru Girls School performed it in the New Zealand Theatre Federation Festival September 2012 Crooked Pieces Drayton Theatre London September 2012 The Questors Theatre January 2015 director Roza Sarkisian and Theatre Actor Kyiv Ukraine 2018 Anton s Well Theater Company Oakland California July August 2018 and Chico State Theater Company at California State University Chico December 2022 A critically acclaimed adaptation of the play as translated into Polish with English language surtitles was performed at the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival by the Polish theatre company TR Warszawa The production starred Polish film actress Magdalena Cielecka and featured a number of other performers from TR Warszawa in supporting roles This was a revival of TR Warszawa s earlier production of the play as performed in Warsaw 2 In 2003 there was a successful staging in Brazil which played to a full house for six consecutive months in Sao Paulo and also gained media attention for its defying gender aspect as the role was performed by male actor Luiz Paetow 3 Indian director Arvind Gaur performed this play as a one woman show with British actress Ruth Sheard in 2005 4 Reception Edit4 48 Psychosis has divided critical opinions Michael Billington of The Guardian newspaper asked How on earth do you award aesthetic points to a 75 minute suicide note 5 Charles Spencer of the Telegraph said it is impossible not to view it as a deeply personal howl of pain 6 David Greig considered the play to be perhaps uniquely painful in that it appears to have been written in the almost certain knowledge that it would be performed posthumously 1 Opera EditAn operatic adaptation of 4 48 Psychosis commissioned by Royal Opera and written by British composer Philip Venables was staged at the Lyric Hammersmith in 2016 The first such adaptation of Kane s works the production was approved by Sarah Kane s brother and received critical acclaim 7 8 9 References to the play EditThe British indie rock band Tindersticks released a song called 4 48 Psychosis on their album Waiting for the Moon The song s spoken word lyrics are excerpted from the play References Edit a b David Greig introduction to Sarah Kane Complete Plays 2001 The Scotsman Archived 2009 02 18 at the Wayback Machine 16 August 2008 theatre article in Portuguese folhasp newspaper Sumati Mehrishi Sharma 31 December 2005 Mind Games The Indian Express Archived from the original on 17 February 2009 Retrieved 9 October 2008 The Guardian 30 June 2000 The Telegraph 14 May 2001 Wroe Nicholas 21 May 2016 How Sarah Kane s 4 48 Psychosis became an opera the Guardian 4 48 Psychosis review The Independent 26 May 2016 Archived from the original on 18 June 2016 4 48 Psychosis opera is rawly powerful and laceratingly honest review The Telegraph Retrieved 28 May 2016 Citations EditGreig David 2001 Introduction Complete Plays by Sarah Kane London Methuen ISBN 978 0 413 74260 5 p ix xviii Kane Sarah 2001 4 48 Psychosis In Complete Plays London Methuen 2001 ISBN 978 0 413 74260 5 p 203 245 Ryan Betsy Alayne 1984 Gertrude Stein s Theatre of the Absolute Theater and Dramatic Studies Ser 21 Ann Arbor and London UMI Research Press ISBN 0 8357 2021 7 Further reading EditRoss Alex January 21 2019 Psychotic Opera at the Prototype Festival The New Yorker ISSN 0028 792X External links Edit4 48 Psychosis at the Literary Encyclopedia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 4 48 Psychosis amp oldid 1134341702, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
