The Facebook group promoting the ADC Lateshow this week promises the ultimate in schadenfreude; a badass production that guarantees to leave us feeling awesome about how much better your life is in comparison. Such assertions seem incongruous with the deeply personal, clamorous lament that is normally expected from a performance of 4.48 Psychosis. Accompanied by some frankly embarrassing ‘concept art’, the posters and teaser trailers depict a horribly literal, juvenile approach to Sarah Kane that is, in fact, unrepresentative of the performance itself, which proved to be highly sensitive and wholly competent. The program is an incoherent clash of poor-taste jokes about over-dosing and sincere (I think) discussion of director Chloe Mashiter’s approach to the play, which aims to distance itself from often highly-stylised interpretations, and to focus on the notion of love. It is difficult, however, to escape the fact that the play is, in essence, a complex insight into the chaos of an inconsolable mind; Chloe Mashiter’s excitement regarding awkward conversations (about genitals!!) did little to persuade the audience to disregard that passé topic of just depression and focus instead on the proposed emphasis on love and human connection.

The apparent attempts of the director to produce an immature, trite, dark drama were fortunately thwarted by Hannah Wildsmith’s excellent performance as The Lover. Perceptive and wholly credible, she holds very little back in her astute portrayal of the bleak moodswings of the central character. She is well supported by the even performances of Nikki Moss and Archie Preston in their respective roles as The Doctor and The Partner: both give naturalistic, grounded performances that balance the highly-strung lead. Wildsmith’s impressive consistency was echoed by the understated but effective soundtrack that accompanied her performance. The insistence of the heartbeat that pervaded the production was, if a little obvious, a thoughtful and important complement. A modest, but perhaps unambitious, set design does little to attract or distract attention from the main performances.

 The unusually popular opening night of the lateshow demonstrated the proclivity of Cambridge audiences for modern, off-beat theatre, and the ability of such shows to generate the necessary profit for a successful run in a space like the ADC. However, the unwillingness of the director to take her own production seriously inspires a great reluctance to take the performance itself seriously, although it is an undoubtedly accomplished overall success.