4.48 PSYCHOSIS lays bare the chronic struggle of an individual to create a coherent sense of self in a society which is crumbling at the hand of its own hyperviolence. Inspired by personal experiences of gender and neurodivergence, hauntological theory, cult horror films and contemporary noise and drone music, Mackenna stages this cult classic through the lens of their current societal confusion, fear, disgust and horror.
Written at the end of the 21st Century, in the midst of the radical decline of Western values upheld throughout the past hundred years, 4.48 PSYCHOSIS is Sarah Kane’s last play, and her most vulnerable. Created in a time in which she had “lost faith in love”, Kane composed a web of deeply intimate fragments in which the life of an individual blooms and unravels.
Surrounded by an excruciatingly violent landscape of love and loss, our main character obsessively seeks tenderness and clarity at the edge of their grave. Haunted by bodily dysphoria, psychological dysphoria and societal dysphoria, followed by the ghosts of their life and paralysed by shame and anger, they mourn the past, the present and, especially, the lost future.
Is it possible to live your life in a way you believe in as a member of a species which seems hellbent on orchestrating its own obliteration? Is this a world I can live in without lying about who I am? And what do I do if I see the pieces of me turn to ash?
Premières on the 19th of February 2026 at Frascati in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
For 4.48 PSYCHOSIS I only worked with second hand and vintage clothes and materials, and as local as possible (from NL). I crocheted the bonnet and adjusted clothes as well.
Credits
Direction, Scenography, Lighting Design, Music and Sound Design: Erasmus Mackenna
Written by Sarah Kane
Performance: Sabine van Kuipers
Costume Design: Sanne Vermij
Translation: Han van Wieringen
Dramaturgy: Belle de Wit
Production Management: Tosca Schutte
Technical Production: Wouter Versteege
Produced by Frascati Productions
Upcoming performances (NL)
8-4-2026 – De Kikker, Utrecht
18-4-2026 – Ins Blau, Leiden
22-4-2026 – Het Nationale Theater, Den Haag
2-5-2026 – Corrosia, Almere
13-5-2026 – De Schuur, Haarlem
14-5-2026 – Frascati, Amsterdam
15-5-2026 – Frascati, Amsterdam
16-5-2026 – Frascati, Amsterdam
