Review - Freud's Last Session

After more than 14 months at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, Mark St. Germain's clever and engrossing two-hander, Freud's Last Session, which depicts a visit between the aging atheist Sigmund Freud and the young, newly-Christian C.S. Lewis, who had satirized the famed psychiatrist in The Pilgrim's Regress, is the latest in the trend of hit shows moving to New World Stages.

Set in the study of Freud's London home (recreated in elegant classic details by Brian Prather), the playwright's fiction places their theological discussion on a date where thoughts of death loom heavily for Brits. It is September 3rd, 1939; the day that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain reluctantly announced over the radio that Hitler had ignored his demand to withdraw German troops from Poland, forcing England to declare a state of war. All of London is braced for the bombings that will eventually follow. On top of that, Freud himself is very near death; the cancer in his mouth letting off such a foul smell that his own dog avoids him.

Nevertheless, St. Germain and director Tyler Marchant keep the 80-minute piece lively, interesting and frequently funny, with the respectful young scribe doing his best to defend his positions on the existence of God, the morality of suicide and the necessity of pre-marital chastity against the impish and wry-humored elder. ("No sex before marriage? It's not only naive, it's mindless cruelty. Like sending a young man off to perform his first concerto with an orchestra when the only time he's ever played his piccolo was alone in his room.") And yes, there is the inevitable mini-session on the couch.

The two actors, who have played the entire New York run thus far, continue to display excellent chemistry and are individually splendid. Martin Rayner is handed the juicier lines as Freud and plays them with the amusing self-satisfaction of a man who is delighted with his own brilliance and celebrity, despite his continual pain and realization of his own mortality. As Lewis, the tall and chiseled-faced Mark H. Dold is nicely full of reserve and manners; a passionate thinker who is continually absorbing the thoughts of others. Watching the bond between them thicken into real affection, despite their disagreements, is what gives the play an engaging heart.

Photo of Mark H. Dold and Martin Rayner by Kevin Sprague.

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"I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time."
-- Orson Welles

The grosses are out for the week ending 10/16/2011 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: THE MOUNTAINTOP (12.4%), RELATIVELY SPEAKING (11.0%), PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT (9.2%), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (8.7%), FOLLIES (8.2%), SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK (7.6%), MAN AND BOY (5.2%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (5.0%), BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL (3.0%), HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (2.6%), MEMPHIS (2.3%), WICKED (1.9%), MAMMA MIA! (1.8%), CHICAGO (1.1%), JERSEY BOYS (0.5%),

Down for the week was: MARY POPPINS (-5.6%), SISTER ACT (-5.2%), ROCK OF AGES (-1.4%), ANYTHING GOES (-1.1%), WAR HORSE (-0.1%),