Grzegorz Jarzyna's aim in staging Sarah Kane's anguished play was to create beauty out of despair. In this uncompromising autobiographical approach to Kane's elusive and elliptical prose poem, the central character is a woman in the throes of a terrifying psychological ordeal. Throughout the play she confronts a series of figures who try to reason with her: a close friend, a male doctor, another patient, a female lover; until she ends up attacking her own psyche as she struggles between life and the desire for death.
Polish screen and stage actress Magdalena Cielecka, gives a fascinating performance as a young woman trapped in her misery and the visions it brings on. In 2008 Cielecka was awarded the Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh Festival for her performance in 4.48 Psychosis and another Polish production, Krzysztof Warlikowski's The Dybbuk. Papers like The Times, The Guardian and the Telegraph have all applauded Cielecka's interpretation of the role, raging at one moment and slumping down defeated the next.
Kane herself committed suicide a year-and-a-half before the play's premiere, a reality that makes this play all the more jarring. It is a virtual record of the author's last moments, her last thoughts in the face of a fatal state of depression. The dose of British cynicism cuts the despondency, creating a story that Kane hoped would "excite, amaze, fascinate, shock, intrigue, amuse, entertain or entice". The play's title refers to the time Kane would usually wake up in agony and suffer in the silence of night.
At 4.48
when depression visits
I shall hang myself
to the sound of my lover's breathing
After 4.48 I shall not speak again
The Guardian has called the play ""A powerful, almost unbearable evening" and gave it four stars. The Times wrote "Bravura stuff - but disciplined, pointed, terrifying and true" and the Financial Times wrote that it "gives raw, physical form to Kane’s unflinching text".
Following its performance in Edinburgh, Scott Clair in Herald Young Critic Review called the show a
phenomenal adaptation of Sarah Kane's moving and extremely powerful 4.48 Psychosis is a frank and all-too-true insight into the desperation of a tragically tortured mind. This production also proves itself in terms of acting, direction, staging and, above all, extraordinary realism. In Magdalena Cielecka's breathtaking and outstanding portrayal of a nameless girl suffering in the advanced stages of a solitary, mentally and physically debilitating bipolar disorder, we see an actress attacking a role as though she hadn't eaten for a month. In addition to the unparalleled acting of Cielecka and the supporting cast, the director's use of stage language really does astound. It is indeed a rarity for a play to end leaving the audience with no idea how to react, as the action seems too real to applaud as a drama. This performance really is an astounding experience, and a tragic, yet compelling epitaph to its playwright, the late Sarah Kane.
The show was staged in London in March 2010 at the Barbican Theatre. In 2012 the play makes its Asian debut at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, performed in Polish with English and Chinese surtitles. Due to its explicit content, it is not recommended for people younger than 18 years of age.
The 40th Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) takes place between the 28th of January and the 8th of March, presenting 12 world premieres and ten Asian premieres along with a vast programme of activities in theatre and performance at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The festival welcomes Chinese talent side by side with international talent, aiming to serve as a showcase of the best contemporary and traditional performances in the nation. The festival opened with the Hamburg Ballet’s performance of Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler choreographed by John Neumeier, followed by Neumeir's A Streetcar Named Desire. The festival sells over 100,000 tickets each edition.
4.48 Psychosis
Written by by Sarah Kane, translated by Klaudyna Rozhin, director: + (Grzegorz Jarzyna) Art Direction: Malgorzata Szczesniak and the music is Domiński Peter, Paul Mykietyn, + (Grzegorz Jarzyna) Directed light: Felice Ross, Computer Graphics: Martin Wiktorowski ; are: Magdalena Cielecka, Catherine Herman, Mariusz Benoit, Waldemar Occupancy / Janusz Chabior, Rafal Mackowiak / Sebastian Pawlak, present in the co-TR Warsaw and the Polish Theatre in Poznan premiere: 8th in February, 2002 (Polish Theatre), 22nd of February, 2002 (TR Warszawa).
The performance is on stage at the Hong Kong Arts Festival between the 22-25th, February 2012 every day at 8:00 p.m.
Article editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: www.trwarszawa.pl, www.hk.artsfestival.org