ABSTRACT
Having examined the connections between 4.48 Psychosis and modern drama, this chapter looks at the play with reference to postmodernism and postdramatic theatre. So, what is postdramatic theatre, how is it different from postmodern theatre and why should the reader of 4.48 Psychosis engage with the term? This chapter argues that there are many compelling pragmatic pedagogical reasons that make an engagement with this form of theatre an essential part of every form of scholarly, and skills-based engagement with Kane’s since Lehmann’s account of postdramatic theatre raises important questions about aesthetics, politics and ethics that should be of interest even to those performance makers and teachers who profess a hostility towards ‘avant-garde’ texts that eschew conventional dramatic categories like character, plot, catharsis and so on.
