Theatrical production breaks convention

Express Tribune

a day ago

The cast of the '4.48 Psychosis' play thanks the audience after delivering a powerful performance which broke theatrical norms through emotionally charged, physically intense portrayals that collapsed the space between audience and actor at The Black Hole in the federal capital. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Islamabad-based theatre collective Qissa Khwani Theatrics has staged Pakistan's first and only translation and performance of 4.48 Psychosis — the final, most harrowing work by British playwright Sarah Kane, widely interpreted as her theatrical suicide note.
Written shortly before her death in 1999, the play confronts the audience with unfiltered expressions of despair, psychosis and identity collapse. The production is directed by Ahmad Umar Ayaz, who holds a master's degree in modern Drama from the University of Edinburgh and is produced by Abdul Basit Mushtaq and Sundas Tanveer.
The staging immerses the viewer in Kane's broken and poetic world — a space where logic dissolves and suffering takes centre stage. Inspired by Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, the play does not seek catharsis or comfort - it demands confrontation, provocation and an unflinching encounter with pain.
Starring Muhammad Arslan and Saim Raza, both trained at NAPA, the performance breaks theatrical norms with emotionally charged, physically intense portrayals that collapse the space between audience and actor. There is no safety, no detachment. Language cuts. Silence suffocates.
Performed at The Black Hole in Islamabad, the venue is transformed into a psychological environment where the boundaries of theatre are ruptured. No stage. No curtain. No barrier. Just raw human presence and the unbearable weight of being.
Qissa Khwani Theatrics is a bold, independent collective working to revive and redefine theatre in Pakistan, where the cultural infrastructure for experimental or political theatre is nearly non-existent. In an environment where mainstream entertainment dominates and public arts spaces are few, the group has made it its mission to build space for critical, courageous storytelling — using theatre as a medium to provoke thought, resistance and collective reflection. With this landmark production, they bring Sarah Kane's voice to Pakistan for the first time - unfiltered, unsoftened and impossible to ignore.