4.48 Psychosis review — Sarah Kane's last play terrifies as an opera The Times Richard Morrison, Chief Culture Writer First night 4.48 Psychosis review — Sarah Kane's last play terrifies as an opera Philip Venables's opera, now revived by the Royal Opera at the Linbury Theatre in London, is a brilliant musical response to Sarah Kane's harrowing work Lauren Young as Emily and Jacquelyn Stucker as Gwen in 4.48 Psychosis at the Linbury Theatre Marc Brenner Richard Morrison , Chief Culture Writer Sunday October 18 2026, 10.00pm BST , The Times Listen 0:00 / · 3:05 min Share Share this article Email Twitter Facebook Link Save Today's Quizle Q: Test your knowledge Sarah Kane's last play, 4.48 Psychosis — finished a few weeks before the 28-year-old British dramatist took her life in 1999, and in many ways an extended suicide note — is deeply disturbing to read and watch, but also intensely perceptive and brave. Philip Venables's operatic adaptation was premiered in 2016 in Ted Huffman's staging, now revived by the Royal Opera at the Linbury Theatre. It doesn't try to add greater depths of harrowing despair to the original play. That would be impossible. But it does brilliantly use music (plus melodramatic lighting changes and pre-recorded sounds, all inserted with split-second timing) to clarify Kane's stream-of-consciousness text, which she left without stage directions or any indication of who speaks when. The result is that the opera is less of an angry howl against existence, as the play overwhelmingly was, although there are certainly passages when voices and instruments seem to hurl nihilistic rage in your face. Rather, it's a vividly evoked depiction of all the many factors — misapplied medication and formulaic psychiatry, childhood and religious trauma, self-loathing and, most of all, the loneliness of being in what the protagonist believes to be a loveless world — that can lead to self-harm and eventually self-destruction. ENO bosses: 'We don't want to be landing like a UFO in Manchester' Venables deploys six female singers on stage, who variously depict psychiatrists, nurses and friends. And though the clinically depressed protagonist, incarcerated in a grim, bare institutional ward, is mostly portrayed with all too believable realism by the excellent Jacquelyn Stucker, the other five singers also seem to play facets of her fragmented personality. Top stories 1 New Caitlin Moran: People hate me, my hair, my face, my feminism Life 2 New Clodagh McKenna: I always get up at 6am on holiday. I love the calm Inspiration 3 16 of the best safaris in Africa Africa 4 13 of the best affordable hotels in New York New York City 5 The Marylebone pop-up for Christmas-maxxers LUXX The music ranges from deliberately mind-numbing shopping-mall pap to full-on manic prestissimos. One particularly striking aspect is the use of two percussionists, on either side of the superb Chroma Ensemble (which is seated in a gallery behind the stage, expertly conducted by Naomi Woo) to rap out harsh rhythms exactly synchronised to the duel of words between psychiatrist and patient. Advertisement Elsewhere, the vocal writing sometimes has the polyphonic complexity of ancient music (the Agnus Dei from Bach's B Minor Mass is quoted towards the end), while the suicidal final scene (not literally staged, mercifully) is a remarkable series of downward-pulling cadences that is as haunting, in a very contemporary way, as Dido's lament in Purcell's opera. Despite occasional moments of very dark humour this is an unremittingly terrifying show that leaves you uncertain as to whether applause is even appropriate. But it is also, one senses, unflinchingly truthful. ★★★★☆ 90min Linbury, Royal Opera House, London, to Oct 25, rbo.org.uk Top stories 1 New Caitlin Moran: People hate me, my hair, my face, my feminism Life 2 New The beauty expert's all-time favourite hair products Beauty 3 New Tony Hadley: Fans still threw their knickers on stage after I became a dad Parenting 4 New The ten companies fund managers think will make them billions Saving & Investing 5 New 'Mum is dating a fraudster. What can I do?' Family Finances Love classical music and opera? Get access to exclusive interviews and join the conversation in our Facebook group Culture Classical & Opera Opera first night reviews What to do in London Share Share this article Email Twitter Facebook Link Save