ТЕАТАРОТ НА САРА КЕЈН: ДЕЗИНТЕГРАЦИЈАТА НА ПСИХАТА КАКО ОДРАЗ НА ОПШТЕСТВЕНОТО НАСИЛСТВО

Abstract

The suicide of Sarah Kane (1971 – 1999), one of the most striking contemporary British
playwrights, committed shortly after she finished 4.48 Psychosis (1999), will determine the
play’s reception as a long “suicide note”, at the expense of the artistic and the dramatic
qualities, but also of the socially engaged dimension of this theatrical work which questions
the political foundations of the disintegration of the self at the end of the 20th
century. This paper considers the multiple values of Kane’s play, which, on the one hand,
presents an introspective and intimate testimony of the suffering caused by depression,
while, on the other hand, critically examines the causes of this later in contemporary society.
The play is also a sharp critique of the mental health care system in contemporary
times, pointing out the weaknesses of the dominant psychiatric medication approach to
depression today. The protagonist of 4.48 Psychosis rejects the essentialist definition of the
pathological suicidal identity that depoliticizes her/him, as well as the prescribed drugs
that numb her/him, and reveals “hermself” above all as angry and rebelled against the violence
and injustice that pervade our world. In that sense, this paper emphasizes the deeply
political and engaged dimension of Kane’s theatre. In its interdisciplinary approach, this
article prolongs the deep intertwining of theater and psychology, especially in their pursuit
of better understanding the psyche of the character/individual, and draws on their
respective contemporary theoretical tools. It also builds on contemporary theoretical reflections
on the birth of the depressed/suicidal subject in the light of Michel Foucault’s
reflection on biopower.