“Powerful acting, unusual theatrical means and an excellent team” – Grzegorz Jarzyna’s performance has been enthusiastically received in New York.
The 4:48 Psychosis performance shown at the avant-garde St. Ann’s Warehouse theatre on 16th October 2014 had its Polish première in 2002. The British playwright Sarah Kane’s (1971–1999) last play strikes with its unconventional form – with no division of roles and no stage directions. 4:48 Psychosis draws an image of a woman who feels rejected by both others and by God, and eventually, exhausted, decides to commit suicide.
What inspired me to reach for Kane’s text was her suicidal death caused by long-term psychosis – said Grzegorz Jarzyna, the director of the performance and TR Warszawa's chief, in New York. – I interpret this text as a kind of testament, her last cry, a cry for help from those who can help – he added.
According to Magdalena Cielecka, the lead actress, the figure created by Kane is a “treasure”.
This figure is tragic, complex, contradictory and controversial. And if you add that she’s authentic, because the playwright did as she had promised, the acting challenge becomes full of responsibility. You’re working on the basis of a real life, telling about real suffering and the real tragedy of a person who had a problem accepting herself as a human being, an artist and a woman – the actress said after the New York première.
The performance hasn’t changed much since its première. Surely, after so many years, it’s become more precise and subtle. Magda Cielecka’s creation has become incredibly radical and emotionally precise – stated TR Warszawa's director.
Magdalena Cielecka’s creation was also appreciated by New York's theatre critics, who emphasized her extraordinary games with emotions.
And when Ms. Cielecka turns her glazed laser gaze onto the audience, you may feel the alarm that seizes you on the streets when you receive the sudden, specific attention of a ranting lunatic – wrote Ben Brantley in The New York Times.
The critics also mention Jarzyna’s masterful use of scenic means and metaphor. The atmosphere of desperation is enhanced by the raw scenography that harmonizes with the simple interior of St. Ann’s Warehouse. The director juxtaposes light and darkness, sentimental melodies and powerful, pulsating music, overwhelming sounds and silence. He makes use of a filmic style of editing scenes, and achieves the effect of a close-up by using a spotlight, which, at a certain moment, extracts from the dark only the main character’s face, torn with pain.
The New York theatre’s audience was strongly impressed by 4:48 Psychosis’ finale. The stage is plunged into darkness, and the audience is flooded by light. “It was shocking. I’d never seen such a powerful performance. It cannot leave anyone indifferent. Now everyone has to draw conclusions for themselves”, said one of the viewers to the PAP. “And when the house lights come back on, oh so slowly, the shadows refuse to leave. There’s no doubting that darkness has the last word” – concludes Brantley’s review for The New York Times.
Jarzyna’s performance was complimented by Susan Feldman, St. Ann’s Warehouse’s art director and founder. She recalled that since 2004, her institution has maintained a relationship with TR Warszawa, which has gained its own American audience. TR Warszawa had previously been to the US with the play Risk Everything by George F. Walker, an adaptation of Macbeth, and a play based on the Danish film Festen.
When I saw 4:48 Psychosis directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna for the first time, I was impressed and deeply moved by the powerful acting, unusual theatrical means and courageous choices made by the director and his excellent team of designers and performers – Feldman said.
The show runs from 16th to 26th October, 2014. TR Warszawa’s performance at the St. Ann’s
Source: PAP, New York Times, ed. PZ, transl. szm, October 2014