BWW Reviews: A CASE NAMED FREUD Completes Savyon Liebrecht's Trilogy

A Case Named Freud

Goethe-Institut Boston's German Stage, in association with the Austrian Cultural Forum New York and Israeli Stage, proudly presents the American Premiere of A Case Named Freud (The Third Play in the Freud Trilogy) by award-winning playwright Savyon Liebrecht.

Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 7:00 pm

German Stage, Goethe-Institut Boston, 170 Beacon Street, Back Bay/Boston Info: 617-262-6050 or info@boston.goethe.org

Directed by Guy Ben-Aharon, Produced by Detlef Gericke

CAST: Ken Baltin (Sigmund Freud), Miranda Craigwell (Anna Freud), Stacy Fischer (Helen Wald), Ed Hoopman (Dr. Sauerwald), Gabriel Kuttner (Martin Freud), Dale Place (Kurt), Omar Robinson (Harry Freud), Talia Heller (Stage Directions)

In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 70th Anniversary of World War II, Goethe-Institut Boston's German Stage, in association with the Austrian Cultural Forum New York and Israeli Stage, presents the American Premiere of A Case Named Freud in five locations this week. The opening night staged reading marked the tenth German Stage production since 2012 and provided a backdrop to the farewell for Goethe-Institut Director Detlef Gericke who has served in Boston for six years.

The third play in the Freud trilogy by award-winning playwright Savyon Liebrecht (following Dear Sigmund and Carl and Freud's Women), A Case Named Freud is told in flashbacks to the German invasion of Austria in March, 1938, and framed by visits to Vienna by Freud's nephew Harry (Omar Robinson) after the war in 1946, where he meets with the Nazi who processed the Freuds' exit visas to London. Owing to limited information about the real Dr. Anton Sauerwald, his name here has been slightly altered to Alexander Wald (Ed Hoopman) and the details of his home life dramatized, including a highly-charged relationship with his wife Helen (Stacy Fischer) and the ubiquitous doorman Kurt (Dale Place). However, his dealings with Freud (Ken Baltin) and his grown children Anna (Miranda Craigwell) and Martin (Gabriel Kuttner) are based on known circumstances when Sauerwald was appointed to take over and run the family's publishing business, as well as to confiscate their valuables and displace them from their home.

Ill with cancer at the age of 82, Sigmund Freud did not consider leaving Austria, despite the Nazi threat, until it was too late. Even when Wald commandeers their lives, Freud underestimates the danger and engages with Wald as if he is one of his patients. At first, Wald is dismissive of Freud's work, but, as a scientist himself, he comes to an appreciation of the man's genius and realizes that it is unthinkable to destroy his writings. This causes him great difficulties, both at home and with the Nazi Party, but his change of heart ultimately results in saving the Freud family. Even knowing the eventual outcome, the play is riveting and tension-filled, thanks to Liebrecht's powerful language and the fully-committed performances of the cast of Boston's finest.

Director Guy Ben-Aharon (Producing Artistic Director and Founder of Israeli Stage) has an impeccable track record for bringing in top-notch talent to turn a staged reading into a theatrical event. Baltin captures both the arrogance and confusion of the psychiatric pioneer, believing that his superior intellect will protect him, even as the world caves in on him. Hoopman gives a nuanced performance as his character rises and falls on his story arc, while Fischer chillingly epitomizes the anti-semitic nationalism practiced by far too many who fell under the influence of the Nazis. Without benefit of sets, costumes, or props, Craigwell, Kuttner, Robinson, and Place bring us into the world of the play with fully-realized characterizations. Matt Tolf and Paul David Hoover instill fear and loathing as a pair of Nazi thugs. In the case of A Case Named Freud, the simplicity of the presentation allows for the message to come through loud and clear, with an all-too familiar resonance that must not be ignored.

Upcoming Performances:

-- Boston College, Fulton Honors Library, Fulton Hall, Chestnut Hill

Wednesday, January 28, 6:30 pm, Admission free

-- Boston University, Florence & Chafetz Hillel House, 213 Bay State Road, Boston

Thursday, January 29, 7:00 pm, Admission free

-- Brandeis University, Shapiro Theater in Shapiro Campus Center, 415 South Street, Waltham

Sunday, February 1, 7:00 pm, Admission free

Photo credit: Alena Kuzub (Ed Hoopman, Ken Baltin - foreground; Miranda Craigwell, Stacy Fischer, Dale Place, Matt Tolf - background)

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