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The first Socrates in the City event of 2011 will be a performance of the hit play FREUD'S LAST SESSION, by Mark St. Germain, this Sunday, February 13th at 7pm. There will be a pre-show reception at 6:15. As soon as this special evening was announced, all 145 tickets sold out within 24 hours. After Sunday's performance, Socrates in the City Founder Eric Metaxas will host a Q&A "talkback" with Mark St. Germain and the two stars of FREUD'S LAST SESSION, Mark H. Dold (C.S. Lewis) and Martin Rayner (Sigmund Freud).
Here's the history of how the play came to be as explained by Metaxas: "A few years ago we had Harvard's Dr. Armand Nicholi as one of our speakers at SITC. He spoke about his book The Question of God, which compares the worldviews of Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. In our audience that night was a playwright named Mark St. Germain, who was inspired to write a play about these two men and what they believed. Thus was born FREUD'S LAST SESSION! So you will permit us if we smile with pride, as any midwife would do. Socrates himself considered himself a "midwife of ideas," so there is something to all of this... "
FREUD'S LAST SESSION resumed performances on January 14th at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, 10 West 64th Street (at Central Park West). The Off-Broadway premiere engagement of FREUD'S LAST SESSION opened on July 22, 2010 to rave reviews and immediately became a sellout sensation. Due to a prior December booking commitment at the theatre, the limited engagement of FREUD'S LAST SESSION concluded performances as scheduled on November 28th. After the initial run continued to play to sellout houses in its final weeks, the producers made the decision to reopen the play as soon as the theatre would be once again available in January. FREUD'S LAST SESSION is directed by Tyler Marchant.
FREUD'S LAST SESSION centers on legendary psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud, who invites the young, rising academic star C.S. Lewis 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 - just two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own. Not just a powerful debate, this is a profound and deeply touching play about two men who boldly addressed the greatest questions of all time.
FREUD'S LAST SESSION had its world premiere at Barrington Stage Company (MA) in June 2009, where it was extended twice and brought back by popular demand for two subsequent encore engagements. It holds the record as the longest-running show in Barrington Stage's history.
The performance schedule is Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesday through Friday evenings at 8pm, Saturdays at 2 & 8pm, and Sundays at 3 & 7pm. Tickets are $65 and are available by calling 212-352-3101 or through www.FreudsLastSession.com. A limited number of $20 Student Rush tickets (cash only, with valid student ID) are available at the box office beginning three hours prior to each performance. For more information, visit www.FreudsLastSession.com.
