Theatre Review: 4.48 Psychosis

Why someone would want to go through the relentless pain, anger, sorrow, and fear asked of them to effectively perform Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis I have no idea, but go through it these three actors do, wringing every ounce of pathos out of a singularly demanding script, and leaving it all on the floor of the Firehall Theatre at the final curtain.

You need honest acting talent to pull off a journey like this one, and the players from Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Theatre have it in heaps. For their third production they're offering this poetic and brutal examination of the depths of suicidal despair in the mind of a woman who simply cannot take any more of her life, made all the more harrowing armed with the knowledge that the writer subsequently took hers in a manner very similar to that described in the work. Non-linear and dream-like - nightmare-like, actually - this play is not for those who don't like a little challenge with their theatre. It effectively blurs the line between theatre and performance art so much that I'm no longer sure that there really is a distinction.

The play gives no indication by the author as to the number of characters required, nor indeed ascribes its disjointed chunks of acerbic dialogue to any given part. This Psychosis is built out of three characters: the woman, her doctor, and a witness. The cast members reportedly claimed the speeches they connected to the most, the result of which has them trading off the various roles on the fly. The ability of Colleen Wheeler and Alexa and Sean Devine to believably handle these emotional transitions, together with Kane's undeniable talent at dramatically transcribing her degenerating mental health, provide a vivid portal into the debilitating desperation of the suicidal psyche that becomes nothing less than a case study in clinical depression that is, at times, unsettlingly identifiable. It is also entirely relevant that the production is staged in a theatre in the heart of the DTES, making the post-show walk to the car somewhat of a continuation of the performance.

Director Mindy Parfitt takes full advantage of the mutable stage directions by making some big, choreographed choices for the actors' actions throughout, which, together with a wonderfully simple and stark white trapezoidal set and effectively creepy sound design, enhance the hallucinatory feel of the play. Had Sarah Kane somehow managed to live with her demons and the depression that eventually overpowered her, I have a feeling she would have been most happy with this production of what became her final work.

Photo courtesy of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Theatre