EMU Theatre

The title of this blog is a line from near the end of a play, 4.48 Psychosis. It is spoken by a character, a writer, who is suffering from severe depression, but who has begun responding to treatment.

It is one in a list of short declarations she makes of her goals and hopes, now that hope is no longer an unattainable thing to be dreaded and mocked. Now that she is no longer exercising her talent to increase self-loathing. The fragility and clumsiness of her optimism, the lack of protective irony anywhere in the list, create an apprehension in the audience. How can this child-like creature survive in the sort of world she knows is out there?

4.48 Psychosis was written by Sarah Kane, a young British playwright who committed suicide shortly after finishing the play. A tragedy in itself, this act has also given her last play a notoriety that I don't think has served it well. Because 4.48 Psychosis, apart from the facts surrounding its creation, is a wonderful, searing and complex play. You can't read it without wanting to perform it or see it performed.

EMU will be performing this show in about a month, during the last weekend of February and the first weekend of March. The performances will be at the Lawrence Arts Center on Friday and Saturday nights. I hope to blog some more during rehearsals and even post some photos and publicity materials if I can figure out how. We'll see!