'4.48 Psychosis' to be staged in China as part of theater arts fest

A scene from 4.48 Psychosis [Photo provided to China Daily]

The late British playwright Sarah Kane's final work, 4.48 Psychosis, will come to China under the direction of Polish director Grzegorz Jarzyna and TR Warszawa, one of Poland's most innovative theaters.

TR Warszawa is one of the invited theaters during the ongoing Lin Zhaohua Theater Arts Festival, an annual event initiated by established Chinese theater director Lin Zhaohua, which is running from March through September this year. The theatre will stage 16 productions in Beijing, Tianjin and Harbin. 4.48 Psychosis will be staged at the Tianjin Grand Theater on May 27 and 28, and then at Renmin University in Beijing on June 1 and 2.

First premiering at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2000 and directed by James Macdonald, 4.48 Psychosis is about depression, a serious illness the playwright suffered. She killed herself in 1999 after writing this play.

The director, Jarzyna, who was born in 1968 in Chorzów, Poland, premiered his adaptation of 4.48 Psychosis in 2002 in Warsaw and rearranged the script with his interpretation of the disease and portrayal of the deep despair of the leading role, which is played by Polish actress Magdalena Cielecka.