4.48 Psychosis

“At 4:48 when desperation visits I shall hang myself” – these words are from the fifth and final play by Sarah Kane, which also defined her legacy. In it, the British playwright achieved the greatest distance from conventional drama with plot, characters and stage directions. It is a kind of interior monologue in rhythmic poetic prose – only language and pictures, and even the pictures are just language, as Sarah Kane said.

Isabelle Huppert is the outstanding actress in Claude Régy’s production. She stands nearly motionless at the edge of the stage, alone, highly concentrated and alert. The tiniest gestures suffice to illustrate the lines she delivers with great accuracy. The French director leaves the stage entirely to his star, with a male partner (Gérard Watkins) appearing only for a few passages of dialogue. Kane’s magnificent text becomes a many-voiced monologue that goes beyond superficial emotions to express mourning and the knowledge of failure with immense intensity.