The final extension of Mark St. Germain's 75-minute play will be Sept. 23-Oct. 4 at BSC's Stage 2 in Pittsfield, MA. The work was embraced by audiences and critics in early summer. After a hiatus, it was brought back and is now BSC's longest-running production. (Patrons were so vocal about the play's ideas, the script is now for sale at the theatre.)
Featuring Mark H. Dold and Martin Rayner, under the direction of Tyler Marchant, Freud's Last Session has played 47 performances from its first run June 11-July 3 to its engagement Aug. 14-Sept. 6.
Producers from New York have attended the run. Over 5,000 patrons have attended the play that brings little-known professor Lewis (a man of faith, played by Dold) to the London consulting room of famed psychiatrist Dr. Freud (an atheist played by Rayner), just as World War II is beginning.
According to BSC, "Lewis, expecting to be called on the carpet for satirizing Freud in a recent book, soon realizes Freud has a much more significant agenda. On the day England enters World War II, Freud and Lewis clash on the existence of God, love, sex and the meaning of life — only two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own."
Production notes indicate that St. Germain was intrigued by an account of Sigmund Freud's meeting with an unnamed Oxford don shortly before Freud committed suicide in 1939 to end his battle with oral cancer. Lewis would become world famous for his fantasy fiction ("The Chronicles of Narnia") and his writings on faith and Christianity, as well as "The Screwtape Letters." Barrington Stage has presented Award-winning playwright Mark St. Germain's The God Committee, Ears on A Beatle and The Collyer Brothers at Home/Period Piece. He also wrote Camping with Henry and Tom (Outer Critics Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award), Forgiving Typhoid Mary, Out of Gas on Lovers Leap, among others. His musical theatre credits include The Gifts of the Magi, co-written by Randy Courts and Stand By Your Man -The Tammy Wynette Story.
The production team for Freud's Last Session includes Brian Prather (scenic design), Mark Mariani (costume design), Clifton Taylor (lighting design), and Beth Lake (sound design). Kate Cudworth is production stage manager.
Performances for Freud's Last Session Sept. 23-Oct. 4 are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30 PM, Saturdays at 4 PM and 8 PM, Sundays at 7:30 PM at BSC Stage 2, 36 Linden Street, in Pittsfield.
Post-show discussions with playwright Mark St. Germain, along with Martin Rayner and Mark H. Dold, will be held following the Sept. 23, Sept. 25 and Oct. 2.
For ticket information, call (413) 236-8888 or visit barringtonstageco.org.
