A few months ago, I started making plans to visit the East Coast and look at some colleges. I wanted to get a feel for surrounding culture as well, to see if it's a place I'd like to live for four years. I did a little research and found Arden Theater in Philadelphia. As it happened, they were playing "Freud's Last Session", a new play about an imagined meeting between C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud. I don't know how interesting that sounds to you, but I was hooked! I've read many of Lewis's books and was introduced to Freud's works in school. I'm afraid I wasn't terribly impressed with the latter, but the idea of putting the two of them in the same room was intriguing.I saw the play on the evening of my birthday and thought it was brilliant! Here are some fears I had going into it and how it actually turned out:
- Boring- When I heard that "Freud's Last Session" was a play with two characters who sit talking to each other for over an hour with no set changes or dramatic plot points I was a little nervous. It could have easily been boring. Luckily, the casting of both men was excellent, and the script was clever, funny, and engaging. Freud's study was a lovely set lined with bookshelves, cabinets of odd bits and ends lent by a local museum, and of course the famous sofa. There was a small balcony in one corner that let in a lot of what seemed to be natural sunlight. Freud and Lewis did spend most of the time talking, but there were a few interesting interruptions. The play took place the day WWII started, and Freud often turned on the radio to hear reports. I even recognized part of George VI's declaration of war (featured in "The King's Speech"). More disturbingly, Freud had a few coughing fits brought on by his oral cancer (which killed him shortly after in real life) that caused his mouth to bleed. The whole play only ran about an hour and a half, so helped things stay fresh as well.
- Christian Bashing- Occasionally I get the feeling from a TV show or movie that Christianity is politically incorrect. I would be a little surprised if this show was done in Portland. I was very happy with the respect this playwright showed each man. While they reached polar opposite conclusions, both Lewis' and Freud's analysis of human nature are marked by the careful logic both employed. Both sides of the argument were fairly represented and neither was portrayed as an ignorant fool.
- Freud- As I said, I didn't love studying Freud in English class last year. Some of his ideas made sense but others seemed perverse and twisted to me. This adaptation allowed me to sympathize with Freud to some degree. His suffering from the cancer, escape from Austria, sense of humor, and love for his daughter helped me gain a new perspective on his views.
