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Don’t Miss DkIT’s Theatre & Film Students Production Addressing Mental Health

15 November 2022

Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) are delighted to report that their final year Theatre and Film student’s rehearsals are well underway for an epic and not to be missed production of 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane. This play is an in-depth exploration of mental health which was written by the UK playwright in 1997 and is still extremely relevant today.



4.48 Psychosis was the final work by the playwright Sarah Kane and was first staged in June 2000, nearly one and a half years after Kane's death on 20 February 1999. The play has no explicit characters or stage directions. While the text itself is a dark and unrelenting look at what it’s like to live with depression, this group of students worked hard to find moments of lightness, relief and ultimately hope within the production.  With the recurring phrase ‘remember the light, believe the light’ which the students utilised as their guiding star, they have created a piece of theatre that will challenge but ultimately aim to offer insight and create empathy for mental health.

Laura Bowler, Programme Director, BA Theatre and Film Practice DkIT said

‘The final year DkIT students have been studying Sarah Kane in depth which has included reading a collection of her plays, while her content is unrelentingly dark the students have really worked on finding the light and the message within the text. This group of students loved pushing boundaries and are really excited about the potential of art to push an audience to ask questions and make changes. This play has most certainly challenged them and will challenge the viewer’

Laura also added:

‘The group were drawn to this topic as mental health is an important subject with any age range, but college goers really live with it, especially this year, with cost of living, post covid anxieties and normal college stressors – this play really resonated with the students. I think this text highlights what could be going on in someone’s mind, if it starts one conversation and prompts someone to get support, I think the cast would be very happy. This is this group of students first show in front of an audience due to the pandemic and this class of students in particular spent a lot of time online, so this is a really special production for them.’

There are 7 cast members for this production which consist of Sophie Currie, Emma Grazak, Eileen Gomez, Yasmin Hanratty, Karima Essalhi, Ester Marie Balgova, and Holly Gill who is an Erasmus Student.

The show opens at 1pm on Tuesday November 22nd and will have performances at lunch time on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th.

All are welcome and admission is €2, for bookings telephone 0429370280 Or email creativearts@dkit.ie

(Please note the content of this play does include adult and severe mental health themes)

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