It's not the sort of award theatre artists dream about getting, but it may have something to do with their dreams. It's the Gradiva Award, given out annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis (NAAP). And this year, it went to John Malkovich, for his direction of Terry Johnson's Hysteria at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

In bestowing the Gradiva, NAAP hopes to honor "poets, artists, producers, directors, actors, musicians, publishers," and other "valuable allies."

Hysteria is a dark comedy which concerns the last days of Sigmund Freud. According to the NAAP, "the production portrayed psychoanalysis as a very alive form of treatment, a very real entity in the world."

A ceremony will be held at Steppenwolf on May 24 following the 2 PM matinee. The company's current show? One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (perhaps, not next year's Gradiva recipient).

--By Robert Simonson