Theatre

Prepare yourself for a violent, bloody, brutally naked but positively heroic struggle for life.

“A powerful, almost unbearable evening.” ★★★★ The Guardian
“Bravura stuff — but disciplined, pointed, terrifying and true.” ★★★★ The Times
“[This production] gives raw, physical form to Kane’s unflinching text.” ★★★★ Financial Times

At 4.48
when depression visits
I shall hang myself

to the sound of my lover’s breathing

A poetically insane determination to create something beautiful out of despair is embodied in this production by acclaimed Polish Director Grzegorz Jarzyna and his cutting-edge company TR Warszawa. Utter despondency is combined with cynical British humour to harrowing effect in this play by English playwright Sarah Kane who suffered from terrible depression and was to commit suicide a year and a half before the play’s premiere.

Polish screen and stage actress Magdalena Cielecka, gives a tour de force performance as a young woman trapped by panic, anguish and humiliation. The audience bears witness to the indestructible power of creativity in the face of annihilating depression as she is confronted by visions of lovers and demons. It will, as Kane wished, “excite, amaze, fascinate, shock, intrigue, amuse, entertain or entice”.