4:48Phycosis lingers

Although the Viterbo Theatre/Music Theatre Department's run of Sarah Kane's "4:48 Psychosis" has ended, it will surely continue on the minds of its audience.  This production, about a woman's battle with her own mind and those around her, was a triumph of collaboration and artistry.

 

There was only one real character, an unnamed woman (thought to be the show's playwright) played by Jill Iverson, but 11 other people joined her onstage as dancers.  The show was haunting, as the performing company of dancers fluidly moved from representing pieces of the woman's depressed mind to the doctors treating her.  Slightly translucent screens were frequently moved around, which represented different "sets" or places. However, there were no real changes in scene or pointed narrative.  

 

The chaos of this woman's mind was the story, with her inner doubts being spoken by the Greek chorus of dancers, doctors coming at her like beings emerged from a twisted funhouse mirror.  At times, it was viscerally disturbing to watch as the woman tried to speak, when ghostly hands and bodies seemed to be reaching for her from behind screens.  

 

In trying to write this review, I've tried to give the reader some snippets of what the show was like to watch.  However, it's difficult to put into words just how effectively the show captured the scattered, claustrophobic, depressed mind.  The play put into movement what pamphlets and after school specials try to describe, namely, the effect depression has on the mind.  In doing so, watching this woman try to get help, to find a way out of the self-recrimination and pain, the company succeeded in getting the audience to feel this visceral cry for help.  

 

Walking out of the theatre, there was no one I saw that didn't seem to be moved by this production.  This kind of theatre, with its ability to reveal to the audience that which they hadn't known or really felt before, is admirable for its courage and intelligence.  I look forward to seeing the next show from our departments.