TEHRAN – The seventh edition of the Persian translation of “4.48 Psychosis” by English playwright Sarah Kane has been published by Bidgol in Tehran.

Erfan Khallaqi is the translator of the book first published in 2000.

“4.48 Psychosis” sees the ultimate narrowing of Sarah Kane’s focus in her work. 

The struggle of the self to remain intact has moved in her work from civil war, into the family, into the couple, into the individual, and finally into the theater of psychosis: the mind itself. 

This play was written in 1999 shortly before the playwright took her own life at age 28. On the page, the piece looks like a poem. No characters are named, and even their number is unspecified. 

It could be a journey through one person’s mind, or an interview between a doctor and his patient.

Sarah Kane’s plays deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture – both physical and psychological – and death. 

They are characterized by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form, and, in her earlier work, the use of stylized violent stage action. 

Kane battled with depression, and her life was brought to a premature end when she committed suicide at London’s King’s College Hospital. 

Her published work consists of five plays and one short film, “Skin”.

Photo: Copies of the Persian edition of Sarah Kane’s play “4.48 Psychosis”.

MMS/YAW