Two of the world's greatest and most eccentric minds, Sigmund Freud and Salvador Dali, collide in Terry Johnson's Olivier award-winning comedy, HYSTERIA, OR FRAGMENTS OF AN ANALYSIS OF AN OBSESSIONAL NEUROSIS, which will have its Boston-area premiere January 6-30 at Central Square Theater, produced by The Nora Theatre Company and directed by Associate Director Daniel Gidron.
Inspired by an actual meeting between
Sigmund Freud and Salvador Dali, HYSTERIA is a demonic, farcical romp of hilarious misunderstandings about passions and self-control. Dali arrives at Freud's house for tea, his ulterior motive of painting the patron saint of Surrealism. If Freud, whose artistic preferences are more classical, is convinced all Surrealists are fools, why would he agree to meet with a lunatic? Meanwhile, a young, attractive student has also arrived, seeking the doctor's professional opinion, and she won't take no for an answer.
Terry Johnson was first inspired to write HYSTERIA after reading Jeffrey Masson's book, The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory. He then visited the Freud Museum in London, which was the home of Freud and his family after they escaped Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938. "Freud's son meticulously re-created Freud's Vienna study... and it is a strange and powerful room to walk into," says Johnson. "I walked into the study, and instantly knew where the play would be set; and what its parameters were."
HYSTERIA premiered at London's
Royal Court Theatre in 1992 winning the 1994 Olivier Award for Best Comedy. In the US it has been produced by the
Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1999, directed by
John Malkovich, and recently at the
Wilma Theatre with
Alvin Epstein as
Sigmund Freud, among others. The New York Times commented that HYSTERIA "keeps with the adventurous new comic tradition pioneered by
Tom Stoppard with, among other plays, Travesties."
As a playwright,
Terry Johnson's work has been performed all over Great Britain and worldwide. He is the recipient of ten major British Theatre Awards including Olivier Awards for Best Musical Revival in 2009, Best Comedy (twice, 1994 and 1999), and Playwright of the Year 1995. Productions he has directed include: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Entertaining Mr. Sloane, and The Graduate in London's West End. Twice, he worked with
Steppenwolf Theatre directing John Malkovitch in The Libertine and Lost Land. His 2008 London revival of La Cage Aux Folles starring
Kelsey Grammer and
Douglas Hodge transferred to Broadway in 2010. Johnson is the Literary Associate at
The Royal Court Theatre where HYSTERIA is featured on a 50th Anniversary mug.
The Nora's Associate Director, Daniel Gidron brings together two of Boston's favorite comic actors in the lead roles with
Richard Snee (
Sigmund Freud) and
John Kuntz (Salvador Dali). Stacey Fischer and Robert Bonotto complete the cast. The design team includes Nora Theatre Company veterans (with selected credits with The Nora included) Janie E. Howland (set, also for The Caretaker), Gail Astrid Buckley (costumes, also Not Enough Air, the
Elliot Norton Award-winning Betrayal, and The Unexpected Man),
John Malinowski (lighting, also Not Enough Air, The Caretaker, and The Cherry Orchard) and Deway Dellay (sound and composition, also Moon for a Misbegotten, The Caretaker, and Betrayal ). Janet Howes is the production stage manager. Joining The Nora for the first time is Lauren L. Duffy as properties coordinator.
John Kuntz (Salvador Dali) is happy to be back at CST, where he played Aston in the Nora Theatre Company's production of The Caretaker. Other Nora credits include 20 roles in How I Got That Story and multiple roles in Mere Mortals. John is a founding company member of the Actors' Shakespeare Project, where he appeared as the title role in Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, and Titus Andronicus, among others. NY credits include The Bad Seed, Jump/Rope (which he also wrote), and his one-person shows Starfuckers and Freaks! In Boston, John has also been seen at the
American Repertory Theater,
New Repertory Theatre,
Lyric Stage Company, and
Huntington Theatre Company, among others. John is the author of 14 full-length plays. The Salt Girl, won the 2010
Elliot Norton Award for "Best New Play". He will perform in his newest play, The Hotel Nepenthe with Actors Shakespeare Project this February. He teaches at Suffolk University and Concord Academy, and is on the faculty of The Boston Conservatory.
Richard Snee (
Sigmund Freud) last appeared in the Nora Theatre Company in Mere Mortals. Most recently he appeared in SpeakEasy Stage Company's production of Body Awareness. Last season he was seen in Blithe Spirit at The
Lyric Stage Company and Table Manners at Gloucester Stage. He is a founding member of the Actors' Shakespeare Project and last appeared with them in Much Ado About Nothing. He has also been a member of the Boston company of Shear Madness since 1987. Among his numerous film and television credits is the animated FX series, "The Dick and Paula Celebrity Special" in which he "starred" with his wife
Paula Plum. She was "Paula." He was "The Dick."
Stacy Fischer (Jessica) was last seen at The Nora in The Secret Love Life of Ophelia. Her most recent credits include: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Stoneham Theatre), In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play, Noises Off, The Little Dog Laughed, and The Blue Room (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater), Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Fool For Love, and My Name is
Rachel Corrie (
New Repertory Theatre), and Uncle Vanya, (Boston
Art Theatre). Other theatre's: Huntington Theatre, The Sugán, Boston Playwright's Theatre, Publick Theatre Boston,
Village Theatre Project, Gloucester Stage, SpeakEasy Stage,
Lyric Stage, North Shore Music Theatre, and CentaStage. Stacy is a graduate of Emerson College.
Robert Bonotto (Dr. Yahuda) was last seen at The Nora in The Cherry Orchard, and The Nora premieres of The Man Who and Van Gogh in Japan. Other local credits include Private Fears in Public Places (Zeitgeist Stage), and The Cherry Orchard (Huntington Theatre). He appeared in multiple productions at the
Lyric Stage Company and the Súgán Theatre; and recently in a one-man show (as Bela Bartok) by Lynne Conner that tours with the esteemed Borromeo String Quartet. Two of his operas and one of his plays have been premiered at the Boston Theatre Marathon, and his wind quartet Corner Table with Friends will be premiered by the American Festival of Microtonal Music in Greenwich Village in May.
Daniel Gidron, The Nora Theatre Company's Associate Director, directed The Caretaker and The Lady With All The Answers for the company at Central Square Theater last season. An IRNE Award nominee for Best Director, Drama, Small Theater for the company's 2007 production of Buried Child, he has directed 20 productions for The Nora, including The Unexpected Man, How I Got That Story, and The Cherry Orchard in a World Premiere translation by George Malko, among others. He has also directed for many other companies such as The
Lyric Stage Company of Boston,
Shakespeare & Company and Tremont Theatre, Opera Boston, and La Mama ETC. In Israel, where he was born, he has directed at Habimah National Theater, Haifa Municipal Theatre, Arab Theatre, Beit Lessin, Dror Theatre and Beersheva Municipal Theatre. He has taught at Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and
Brandeis University. He currently teaches at UMass Boston.
For more information on HYSTERIA, OR FRAGMENTS OF AN ANALYSIS OF AN OBSESSIONAL NEUROSIS, the public can call (866) 811-4111 or visit www.centralsquaretheater.org.
