Johan Simons . Münchner Kammerspiele

The highly gifted British playwright Sarah Kane was barely twenty-eight when she ended her life in 1999. She left five plays and a film script. Her writings often deal with death and sexuality. They are both poetic and violent. Director Johan Simons believes her much-discussed and controversial work reveals one of man's deeper primal emotions. In 'Gesäubert' ('Cleansed') evil plays a central role. Every man is born with a sadistic streak. So Simons puts Kane's story in a childlike context. 'Gier' ('Crave') is about desire. There is no story or action. Nameless characters communicate in unconnected one-liners. In '4.48 Psychosis' all that remains is a feverish stream of thought, permeated with pain and a longing for death. By combining Sarah Kane's last three plays as a trilogy in one evening, Johan Simons emphasises the evolution of her work. The first part conforms to theatrical rules. Story, plot and characters gradually evaporate. What remains is language. A moving performance, musically accompanied by a classical sextet.