Theatre / 65 min / £10(£8.50) / 14+
Showing @ theSpace on Niddry St, 3-25 Aug, 19.20
4.48 Psychosis, Sarah Kane’s last (and most autobiographical) play is like a stem cell, having the potential to take any form. This is a double-edged sword for many productions, having complete freedom but no guidance. Luckily, Fourth Monkey wield it with devastating effectiveness. Kane’s swan song is essentially a poetic exploration of mental illness and decline. In contrast to the original three-man staging, this production utilises a twenty-strong cast to depict the chaos of psychic anguish. Charlie Bate gives an astonishingly mature performance, representing the fixed, conscious point of a drowning psyche against the overwhelming centripetal forces of the unconscious. Every other cast member portrays a bludgeoning emotion or caricature, while the immaculate choreography gives a staccato method to the madness. Darkly beautiful and still as harrowing as ever.