Mark St. Germain's drama about the fictional meeting between Christian writer C.S. Lewis and atheist psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud — in his London study — opened July 22, 2010, at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre.
Mark H. Dold (as C.S. Lewis) and Martin Rayner (as Sigmund Freud), who were seen in the production at the Little Theatre, continue their roles in midtown. Freud's Last Session is the winner of the 2011 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play, and is produced by Carolyn Rossi Copeland, Robert Stillman and Jack Thomas.
As previously reported, additional productions of Freud's Last Session have happened or are planned for London, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Mexico City, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Palm Beach.
Tyler Marchant directs the play, which "centers on legendary psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud, who invites the young, rising academic star C. S. Lewis to his home in London. Lewis, expecting to be called on the carpet for satirizing Freud in a recent book, soon realizes Freud has a much more significant agenda."
The play, set on the day England enters World War II, has Freud and Lewis clash over "the existence of God, love, sex, and the meaning of life – only two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own," according to the producers. The play is suggested by the bestselling book "The Question of God" by Harvard's Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr.
St. Germain's plays include Camping with Henry and Tom (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards), The Best of Enemies, Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap and Forgiving Typhoid Mary (Time's "Year's Ten Best"). With Randy Courts, he has written the musicals The Gifts of the Magi, Johnny Pye and the Foolkiller (winner of an AT&T "New Plays for the Nineties Award") and Jack's Holiday at Playwrights Horizons.
Director Marchant was nominated for a 2010 Joe A. Callaway Award for his direction of Freud's Last Session, which premiered at Barrington Stage Company's BSC Stage 2 in Massachusetts, with Dold and Rayner originating roles they would later bring to New York City.
The performance schedule at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street) is Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 & 8 PM, and Sunday at 3 & 7 PM. Tickets are $65 and are available at New World Stages through Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200 or through www.FreudsLastSession.com.
A limited number of $20 Student Rush tickets (cash only, with valid student ID) are available at the box office beginning three hours prior to each performance.
