Sarah Kane's final play, written one week before she took her own life, is the story of one woman's tragic battle with depression.

February 24 - March 19

Preview performance February 23 (Donation)
Special Monday performance March 6 - 8pm

Stage Manager - Brey Barrett
Lighting Designer - Christina L. Munich
Sound Designer - Christina Acero
Assistant Sound Designer - Joy Bice
Sound Board Operator - Biancha Crawford
Properties / Set Assistant - Margaret McGurr

For more information, please call the theater at 714.680.6803 or email hungerartists@yahoo.com

  Photos by Darcy Lythgoe

THE HUNGER ARTISTS THEATRE COMPANY’S
10^th ANNIVERSARY SEASON CONTINUES WITH
THE ORANGE COUNTY PREMIERE OF
SARAH KANE’S 4.48 PSYCHOSIS
FEBRUARY 24- MARCH 19, 2006

FULLERTON, CA –  The Hunger Artists Theatre Company’s 10^th Anniversary Season continues with the Orange County premiere of Sarah Kane’s emotionally devastating final work, 4.48 Psychosis, February 24-March 19, 2006. Directed by Jeremy Gable, 4.48 Psychosis features OC Weekly Theater Award-winning actress Jessica Topliff as Kane’s theatrical doppelganger in a brutally honest exploration of mental illness that hauntingly presaged the playwright’s demise. 

Christina L. Munich designs lights for 4.48 Psychosis. She is joined by sound designer Christina Acero and assistant designer Joy Bice. Brey Barrett serves as production stage manager and Biancha Crawford will be sound board operator. 

Performances for 4.48 Psychosis will take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 7 pm. There will be a special Monday evening performance on March 6, 2006 at 8 pm, and a Pay What You Will Preview on Thursday, February 23 at 8 pm.  

General admission tickets for 4.48 Psychosis are $18; senior and students (with valid ID) may purchase tickets for $15.  To reserve tickets, please call 714-680-6803. Tickets may also be reserved online by emailing hungerartists@yahoo.com . 

4.48 Psychosis was Sarah Kane’s the fifth and final play. One of the essential voices of the In-Yer-Face theatre movement that invaded English theatre in the 1990’s, Kane’s work was characterized by its violent imagery and political themes, perhaps best epitomized by her breakout piece, Blasted, written in response to the perceived indifference of the world community to the ongoing atrocities in the former Yugoslavia. 

4.48 Psychosis found Kane looking inward.  With no characters, no stage directions and dialogue that is reminiscent of Sylvia Plath and e.e. cummings, the play is filled with stark beauty, brutal poetry and blunt criticism of modern psychiatric methods.  Shortly after finishing the play, Kane took her own life, leaving behind some of the most important works of the modern theater.

“When I first read 4.48 Psychosis, I was struck by the power of the words,” says director Gable. “Sarah Kane had an uncanny ability to convey beauty, despair, sadness and humor, often at the same time. It is to date still the most personal piece of theater that I have ever seen or read. In this production, Kane's beautiful, haunting words are the focus.  The production is stark and minimal with only a table, two chairs and Jessica Topliff, the most fearless actress I have ever known.”

Topliff won an OC Weekly Theater for Best Supporting Actress for her hilariously over-the-top portrayal of the dangerously repressed Commissioner of Schools in The Hunger Artist Theater Company’s production of The Attorney General. She also played the deranged Charlotte Corday in last season’s production of Marat.Sade and the doomed Desdemona in Othello.

Gable is the Associate Literary Manager of the Hunger Artists Theatre Company.  His adaptation of Marat.Sade was seen at this space last May.  In addition, his original work American Way received its world premiere at The Blank Theater in Los Angeles. An accomplished actor, Gable has appeared in numerous roles at The Hunger Artists, most recently as Sebastian in Twelfth Night; prior to that he alternated in the role of Brad at The Maverick Theater for their production of The Rocky Horror Show. He received an OC Weekly’s Best Performance in a One-Man Show award for his performance in The Gog-Magog Project.

For more information about 4.48 Psychosis or the 10th Anniversary Season, please visit www.hungersartists.com . Programming, dates and times are subject to change.

FACT SHEET

The Hunger Artists Theatre Company presents 4.48 Psychosis
By Sarah Kane
Directed by Jeremy Gable
February 24-March 19, 2006

CAST               Jessica Topliff
DATES            Starting February 24
                        Special PAY-WHAT-YOU-WILL PREVIEW on Thursday February 23                           Monday night show, March 6 at 8pm

 TIMES           Fridays, Saturdays at 8 pm
                       Sundays at 7 pm

 WHERE         The Hunger Artists Theatre Company
                       699-A South State College Boulevard, Fullerton, CA 92831
                       Between Orangethorpe and Commonwealth, just off the 91 freeway

 TICKETS      $18 general admission, $15 for seniors/students with ID.

 PHONE          714.680.6803

 WEBSITE        www.hungerartists.com

 PARKING       Free

 ADVISABLE CONTENT      Extreme language and mature themes