"Martin Kušej´s production at the Stuttgart Theatre opens on the actress playing Grace dangling above the dark stage after she has hanged herself - an icon of pain...

...When Tinker cuts off Carl´s hand with the circular saw, what happens is that his shirt sleeves are dipped in a little theatre blood on the side and pulled down a little. And when at the end Grace carries on Carl´s amputated penis, the transplanted organ which has been sewn on is not made as true to life as possible, but substituted by an inflatable puppet obtained from a ... sex-shop."

The stage picture consists of a white stage floor, a white-topped table, two chairs and three actors: one male and two female. The back wall of the stage is a forty-five degree wall of mirrors sloping upwards towards the audience, so the stage can be watched directly or can be observed from above through the mirrors. This arrangement allows the actors to sit, stand or even lie down flat and still be seen

After opening with probably the longest (deliberate) pause I have ever witnessed on stage, one person spoke without looking at anyone else and no one moved. The person being spoken to could easily be identified by the smallest subtle changes in her face. The 'scenes' were clearly played out even though no attempt was made to create 'characters' for either the doctor or the patient (from review by David Chadderton, dl reviews 8 Jul 2000).

Recently I worked with Jenette Smith who had assistant directed 4:48 at the Royal Court. It was interesting to hear that on the opening night of 4:48 after the production all the journalists came together in the bar. The discussiong: What Exactly Was It About? None of them wanted to say a bad thing - did they understand it...one wonders. Well apparently their joint conclusion and even now the most popular choice - 'a 70 minute suiside note'. Shows how much journalists know ... for me the play is enriching and doesnt have a sense of finality but a forward movement... (Jamie, from site discussion page, 4-3-2001).

Cleansed in Denmark at the Turbinehallerne during Sept 2000.

The actors were Peter Gilsfort (Tinker), Mads M. Nielsen (Graham), Annika Johannessen (Grace), Henrik Jandorf (Rod), Thomas Bendixen (Carl), Thure Lindhardt (Robin) and Kett Lützhøft Jensen (Kvinde/woman).  The director was Jan Maagaard.

Crave in the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, Germany with the premiere on 29 Sep 2000.

The director was Ute Rauwald, translation was by Marius von Mayenburg.  The actors were Edith Adam, Marek Harloff, Caroline Peters and Jörg Ratjen with music by Hardy Kayser and Martin Engelbach.

Phaedra´s Love in France.  Théâtre de la bastille, Paris 21 Sept 2000.

The actors were Claude Degliame (Phèdre), Thierry Frémont (Hippolyte), Lucien Marchal (Thésée), Marie Vialle (Strophe), Jean-Claude Bonnifait (Médecin/ le Prêtre).  The director was Renaud Cojo, and the translation was by Séverine Magois.

Blasted by Portugues group Artistas Unidos, who would also premiere Crave.

The actors were Carla Bolito (Cate), João Saboga (Ian) and Vítor Correia (soldier).

The translation was by Pedro Marques and the direction was by Carla Bolito, João Saboga and Vítor Correia.  26 Oct- 13 Dec 2000.

...four stunning performances. Deborah Harry, as M... is perfectly cast as the older woman: hard-edged but vulnerable, worn but still sensual. Her cross-over from rock star to actor is no gimmick: she inhabits her fragile character to the core. As her younger man, Guion is fine (as is Kristin DiSpaltro as the young woman, C). But it is Brian Barnhart, as A, the only character given a long monologue, who sticks in our memory for his forceful yet shattered performance. (Elyse Sommer, CurtainUp).

And this fatal lack of humor is only compounded by the play’s staging. Sharp sets the play in a disembodied nowhere space where the four actors clad in black stand in a line, while videos that play over the actors' heads set the piece firmly in New York City. While the play does not specify a setting, a director would be wise to give the piece a sense of location, as Vicky Featherstone did in the play’s first production when she put the four speakers in a mock talk-show environment (review by Ken Urban, nytheatre arhcive)