Mark St. Germain's FREUD'S LAST SESSION Plays 6/10-28 At BSC Stage 2 Theatre

Barrington Stage Company, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd and Richard M. Parison Jr., presents the world premiere of Mark St. Germain's new play, Freud's Last Session, from June 10 through 28 at BSC Stage 2 theatre (36 Linden Street, Pittsfield). Starring Mark H. Dold and Martin Rayner, under the direction of Tyler Marchant, Freud's Last Session will have a press opening on Sunday, June 14 at 7:30pm.

Presented last summer on BSC's Stage 2 as a staged reading Freud's Last Session is based on Dr. Armand Nicholi's The Question of God, which was presented as a two-part PBS television presentation in 2004.

Freud's Last Session centers on legendary psychiatrist Dr. Sigmund Freud (Martin Rayner), who invites a young, little known professor, C.S. Lewis (Mark H. Dold), to his home in London. Lewis, expecting to be called on the carpet for satirizing Freud in a recent book, soon realizes Freud has a much more significant agenda. On the day England enters World War II, Freud and Lewis clash on the existence of God, love, sex and the meaning of life - only two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own.

Playwright Mark St. Germain was intrigued by an account of Sigmund Freud's meeting with an unnamed Oxford don shortly before Freud committed suicide in 1939 to end his battle with oral cancer. In Freud's Last Session, the psychoanalyst's visitor is C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters. Freud, a staunch atheist, quizzes Lewis, a former atheist who converted to Christianity, about his views on God and more personal matters.

Martin Rayner (Freud) Most recently: American premiere of Frank McGuiness's Gates of Gold (59E59, New York), Fugard's The Road to Mecca (Studio Theatre, DC), American premiere of Frank McGuiness's The Bird Sanctuary (ASF); Sixteen Wounded for NPR. Favorite On and Off-Broadway roles: Hans in Sixteen Wounded, Pater in Stoppard's The Invention of Love, Charles VI in Henry V (Central Park), Henry in Travels with My Aunt (Drama Desk, Outer Circle Awards), Frizer in Kit Marlowe (Public Theatre). Favorite regional roles: Yale Rep: Underground and You Never Can Tell; McCarter: Loot; A.R.T.: King Lear, When We Dead Awaken; Wilma: The Invention of Love and The Magic Fire. Television: Dr.Chaotica, Star Trek: Voyager; Frasier, Law & Order: C.I., Dangerous Curves, Churchill's People, Dr. Who, Benjamin Franklin. Favorite commercial: Grey Poupon.

Mark H. Dold (C.S. Lewis) Broadway: 2005 revival, Absurd Person Singular. Off-Broadway: Shockheaded Peter,The Little Shubert; Timon of Athens, Othello, The Seagull w/Meryl Streep, NY Shakespeare Festival; Race, The Winter's Tale,Classic Stage Company; Tall Grass, Samuel Beckett; Mayhem, The Lion, Comic Potential, Manhattan Theatre Club; SPF; TFANA; WPA; INTAR. Regional: Mark Taper Form, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of DC, Long Wharf, San Jose Rep., Trinity Rep., Yale Rep., Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and 5 seasons with Barrington Stage Company. Film: 3 Windows, Say You'll Be Mine, Junior Creative, Charlie's Party. TV: recurring principal All My Children, Third Watch, Gossip Girl, Conviction, Brother Outsider (PBS), Law & Order (original, SVU and Criminal Intent), The Progressives (miniseries), Novel Reflections (pilot). Education: BFA, Boston University ; MFA, the Yale School of Drama.

Barrington Stage has presented Award-winning playwright Mark St. Germain's The God Committee, Ears on A Beatle and The Collyer Brothers at Home/Period Piece. He has also written Camping with Henry and Tom (Outer Critics Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award), Forgiving Typhoid Mary, Out of Gas on Lovers Leap, among others. His musical theatre credits include The Gifts of the Magi, co-written by Randy Courts and Stand By Your Man - The Tammy Wynette Story. Mr. St. Germain was also a creative consultant and writer for several seasons on The Cosby Show and co-wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed film, Duma.

Tyler Marchant returns to BSC where he last directed Jeffrey Hatcher's play A Picasso. He recently directed the world premiere of 40 Days by Laura Eason, and will be directing the musical Rent this fall. Recent shows include Cloud 9 at Pennsylvania Center Stage and the world premiere of the musical Anne of Green Gables (by Nancy Ford and Gretchen Cryer) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in NYC. From 2000-2006, Tyler served as the Associate Artistic Director at the Off-Broadway theater Primary Stages where he also served as Director of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer's Group. For almost six years Tyler worked as the Vice-President of the Association of Non-Profit Theatres Companies (ANTC) in New York City . A recipient of the Doris Duke/Andrew W. Mellon/ TCG "New Generation Grant," Tyler received his M.F.A. in directing at the University of South Carolina , and is a member of SSDC.

Barrington Stage's production design team for Freud's Last Session includes Brian Prather (scenic design), Mark Mariani (costume design), Clifton Taylor (lighting design), Beth Lake (sound design). Kate Cudworth is production stage manager.

Performances for Freud's Last Session are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 4pm and 8pm, Sundays at 7:30pm at BSC Stage 2( 36 Linden Street ) Pittsfield . For ticket information, call 413-236-8888. Tickets are $25 and $30. Preview tickets for June 10 and 11 are $15. Pay What You Can Night for Freud's Last Session is Friday, June 12 at 7:30pm, minimum $5 cash at door. As part of its 15th Anniversary Season, BSC will have 15 tickets available for every performance at $15. Tickets can be purchased ahead at the box office or by calling 413-236-8888.

Photo credit: Kevin Sprague

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