Warning: References to suicide, mental illness, self-harm

At 4.48

when desperation visits

I shall hang myself

to the sound of my lover’s breathing

Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis is not an easy play to read, to watch or even to think about, most notably because it has been described as Kane’s ‘suicide note’. This play was fist performed at the Royal Court, Jerwood Theatre in 2000, however by the time of its first performance, Kane had sadly committed suicide. Since it’s first performance, many adaptations have taken place around the world and despite its uncomfortable themes, it still remains one of Sarah Kane’s most popular pieces of writing. It may be a difficult play to tackle, but what it does give you is a window into the life of someone in distress and pain, perhaps showing the audience an image that they have never come across before. In the case of 4.48 Psychosis, it really begins to show us how theatre and performance can be used to make society aware of the difficulties in which people are actually living through – and Kane does this through shock-factor, allowing an audience to hear dark thoughts and talking about themes which (even within in-yer-face theatre) can be uncomfortable for a spectator. Kane’s work finally begins to show that illness is not just about what you can see on the outside, but that it is deep, complex and often invisible to others.

What is immensely unique about this play is that it has no set characters or (linear or clear) plot we may argue. In Kane’s first production, three actors are onstage and take turns in performing this strange sequence of pain and confusion. From looking at many productions of this play, it is not always completely clear if this stream of dialogue is centred around one character (or patient), or if this movement between actors represents multiple patients describing what trauma they are going through. However, when first looking at this play, I saw myself interpreting this collection of voices as a single character – a single character showing just how expansive and chaotic mental illness can be and that it triggers multiple responses. These different voices explore themes and issues of trust, body dysmorphia, relationships, as well as connections to faith. No matter what Kane’s intention was regarding the number of characters, I think the most interesting idea is how this multitude of voices all work together to illustrate an overwhelming result and display of emotion.

If you look at 4.48 Psychosis on a page, it doesn’t make much sense. It is an amalgamation of single words, whole sentences, uncertainty, long and drawn-out pauses and to piece it together can be difficult – especially if we tackle it from a traditional or Aristotelian perspective. But I suppose that is what makes Kane such as genius – it is not just the language and the acting which offers the audience a window into the subject matter, it is the structure and composition of the writing which also communicate these ideas. In order to describe the upmost panic and disjointed feelings, which Kane herself was going through, she creates theatre which is illustrative of all her problems and makes use of every dramatic element to describe these harrowing feelings. This is the kind of theatre that performers, dramaturgs and theatre practitioners would have a field day with! Through Kane’s writing – the form, genre and stylistic decisions – she really illustrates the complexities of the inner mind.

This piece made me reflect on the one-character play – a dramatic form which was the centre of my undergraduate research and dissertation. In my thesis, I argued that the one-character form is perhaps one of the most effective ways for a playwright to capture the mind of a character and also as a form which frequently unveils aspects of culture which are hidden, considered taboo or privatised by society. This dramatic form offers a relationship between performer and spectator which many other forms can’t necessarily establish as effectively, such as an ensemble piece which doesn’t allow this concentrated relationship or direct communication.

In my research, I explored how as a consequent of this audience-performer connection, there was an opening for discussions on topics such as the sexualisation of culture, the representation of the body within society and (an idea we can compare with 4.48 Psychosis) the ability to have a closer investigation into the state of the mind. For example, in the iconic one-character play, Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, the audience bear witness to Krapp’s private behaviours, actions, movements and thoughts (which arguably happen through the tapes as well as his gesticulations). Beckett stages a personal moment belonging to Krapp and through this concentrated glimpse into his life, the audience can observe things like Krapp’s attitude towards sexual desire, his past regrets, and processes of thinking and reflection. This dramatic form gives the privatised a platform – themes and ideas which usually are repressed or ignored – and it seems that Kane also begins to do the same thing.

Although not explicitly a one-character play, 4.48 Psychosis can definitely be compared to this form – especially as it seems like all the actors make up a single entity of suffering. In some productions, there is direct communication (a breaking of the fourth wall potentially) with the audience and similar relationship between audience and actor – as seen with the one-character play – can be generated. These figures provide different snapshots into the reality of mental illness, depression and suicidal thoughts. By having a similar ability to observe these privatised thoughts, it becomes clear than these themes are something which should be discussed more – and unquestionably how they should be treated with upmost seriousness, very much unlike how the doctor figures appear to approach them in the play.

Perhaps, in fact, Kane’s innovative form of theatre – most notably, the number of voices and no clear structure – actually captures the processes of the mind and consciousness in a more realistic way. The mind is not linear and controllable (like we see in the memories of Krapp and his pausing of the tapes) but ridiculously hard to illustrate and most importantly, contain within an art work. Kane lets these thoughts be free, allows them to move around the actors and transform through different forms and styles of language, and maybe this dramaturgical decision can illustrate chaos a lot more efficiently than the one-character play.

In terms of theatre and the depiction of the mind, it also seems like Kane’s play can reflect literary elements of the stream of consciousness to capture this vastness – the streams of words (not necessarily making much sense to the audience upon viewing) can really show the constant workings of the mind when under immense pressure.

‘flash flicker slash burn wring press dab slash

flash flicker punch burn float flicker dab flicker

punch flicker flash burn dab press wring press

punch flicker float burn flash flicker burn’

Likewise, we could even compare sections like this (see above) to new dramaturgical practices, such as enumeration – in which lists and streams of data are presented to a spectator. Due to the vast amount of language, connections made between this information and unification of this data, there is this accumulation of overwhelming emotions and feelings generated from the audience. In 4.48 Psychosis, we see Kane’s constant presentation of sections like this – and they seem the show this extremity of chaos. When faced with this huge listing of words, connoting pain and distress, it is possible that an audience would really be moved by the sheer quantity of it all. From a dramaturgical perspective, it seems that every single word choice, every single phrase and the entire composition of the piece can have intense impact of Kane’s writing.

Sarah Kane has provided such an insight into the world of hidden mental and psychological problems. The fact that this play, as we know, is deeply personal and is overshadowed by one of the greatest tragedies British playwriting has seen, it further shows us the importance of exploring stories and issues around mental health. Kane begins to show just how expansive theatre and dramaturgical practice can be in communicating invisible problems, and this is a play which everyone needs to read in order to understand how powerful theatre craftsmanship can be.