Mark St Germain’s play Freud’s Last Session on the King’s Head Theatre in Islington is a compact but highly effective play which imagines a conflict of mind and reasoning between two well-known minds.
Consulting sofa on the set of Freud’s Last Session, King’s Head Theatre July 2022. Designer: Brad Caleb Lee
It’s England on the day that World War II will probably be declared, and Freud (Julian Bird) has invited Oxford Professor CS Lewis (Séan Browne) to see him at his London dwelling. The founding father of psychoanalysis is within the later levels of painful mouth most cancers, whereas Lewis is but to change into a well-known author.
Freud, an atheist, is fascinated with Lewis’s sudden re-adoption of Christianity, having misplaced his religion as a youngster. With the specter of battle looming, the 2 debate the existence of God, faith, intercourse and relationships.
St Germain’s tight script permits the interrogation of each males’s arguments, but the conversations’ seriousness additionally has flashes of wit and humour. It shouldn’t be a lot a case of 1 profitable over the opposite however what they uncover about themselves through the dialog.
Browne’s Lewis is assured, respectful and , but there may be additionally a playfulness to him that brings gentle to the character. It contrasts with the weightier Freud, performed beautifully by Bird. His Freud is a pointy thoughts encased in a painfully crumbling physique. He brings a grumpy impatience that’s comprehensible in outdated age.
Performed on the small King’s Head stage, full with the well-known consulting sofa, Freud’s Last Session is a compelling watch, and I’m giving it: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Freud’s Last Session, King’s Head Theatre
Written by Mark St Germain.
Directed by Peter Darney
Running time: 80 minutes with out an interval.
Booking till 13 August; for extra particulars and to ebook, head to the King’s Head Theatre web site.
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