Article: Staging the unsolvable

4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane.

On April 15th, 2021, I started rehearsals for my recent project, 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane. However, like many other events, the premiere had to be postponed due to the Pandemic. This article will walk through the process of directing the play and what arouses my interest in the text.

Sarah Kane was a British playwright and theatre director. Her/their works deal with depression, sexual desire, physical and psychological torture, and death. Kane struggled with severe depression for an extended period and was admitted to Maudsley Hospital in London. Kane committed suicide on Feb 25th, 1999. “It has been reported that in response to Kane’s death there was a minute’s silence held on the radio in Germany and that theatres in the country dimmed their lights as a mark of respect” Macdonald, James (Feb 28th, 1999). “‘They never got her'”—the Observer.

My connection to Kane’s works is personal; I feel that I share a similar existential despair that she/they had, the constant questioning of the purpose of human existence. It is not necessarily a negative state of mind, nor is tied to depression. Existential despair is often provoked by a significant event in the person’s life—psychological trauma, marriage, separation, the death of a loved one, a life-threatening experience… “and I have got them all, darling.”

2020, the year that shall not be forgotten, some of us had it harder than the others; some had to deal with a breakup, loss of family members, friends, or partners, on top of the Covid situation. I, for one, had to deal with a breakup and the loss of my father. One day in Autumn 2020, I noticed that I kept reciting certain lines, and I didn’t know where they had come from, and I was sure I didn’t write them. 

I was curious where these lines were coming from, so I went through my bookshelves and my eye caught on Sarah Kane – play collection! I said to myself, “oh, I should reread Kane; it fits my mood,” so I started reading 4.48 psychosis, and I realized that those lines I was repeating were from this text. What interests me the most in Kane’s work 4.48 Psychosis, in particular, is that it’s set in a world with no characters, location, time, or direction; she/they didn’t write for traditional theatre or theatergoers.

I contacted KOKOteatteri and made a deal with them to stage 4.48 Psychosis. I was aware that KOKOteatteri had done another play by Sarah Kane. They’re familiar with the text’s style and intensity and it suits their aesthetic. 

The most challenging thing in 4.48 Psychosis is who’s speaking, what they’re doing while speaking, and where. During the rehearsal period in Spring 2021, I realized that none of my solutions fit the text. This particular play sets up no location, characters, or clues for the director or actors to grab onto. One thing I was keen on, however, was how to have it tread lightly on the stage.

The Psychosis text is cumbersome and intense; it dives deeply into the mind of a dchaepressed character. After many discussions with the working group, trying things out on the stage, and approaching the text from different points of view, we decided to stage the text in physical form; from that notion, I wanted to veer the play into a mediative and dreamy like stage concept. 

The stage design is minimalistic as I’m a person of symmetry and minimalism. The stage consists of two cubes and a 150w x 300h screen, which resembles another cube on the stage. The cube represents the mind, trapped in your zone, with four walls that constantly surround you with no exit or way out. We started working with improvised body movement composition, kept the focal point on the text,  and represented the text as a form of poetry. And speaking of poetry, Sarah Kane wanted to be a poet, but she/they realized theatre is more impactful on the audience than just words on paper.

To make the concept more profound, the actresses Sarah-Maria Heinonen and Katimari Niskala did excellent work building a backstory as a connection between themselves and the physicality on the stage. The final result came out in exactly the direction I was aiming for; a dreamy-like stage that doesn’t put the audience on edge or make them feel uncomfortable, yet, deep enough to touch the audience.

In Psychosis 4.48, Sarah Kane challenges every essential element in theatre-making, as the text does not give solutions in terms of time, location, or characters. However, it leaves space for the actor’s intelligence and imagination. 

Our staging of 4.48 Psychosis premiered at KOKOteatteri on Sep 7th and will be premiered in Spring 2022 at Rakastajat Teatteri  – Ensi-ilta 11.3.2022.

* 4.48 Psychosis was performed in 2000, at the Royal Court, directed by James Macdonald

Text: Moe Mustafa
Proofreading: Gabrielle Vaara
Poster: Moe Mustafa