GOODBYE DOCTOR American Premiere Announced At A.R.T./New York Theatres

The play Goodbye Doctor, by internationally renowned playwright and psychoanalyst Betty Milan, will be performed at the Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre A.R.T./New York Theatres 502 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019 from October 24th through November 3rd.

This will be the American premiere of the play, which had success in France and in Latin America. It is produced by actress, writer and film producer Barbara Riethe (White Nights) in partnership with actor, musician and filmmaker Ian Melamed (Serov).

The script for Goodbye Doctor is part of the book Analyzed by Lacan: A Personal Account published in 2023 by Bloomsbury (translated by Clifford E. Landers and Chris Vanderwees) and featured in the Times Literary Supplement.

The play tells the story of Seriema (Riethe) and the battle she wages with the personification of her own Unconscious Mind (Melamed) when confronted with one of the most controversial figures in psychology, French analyst Jacques Lacan (Jerry Topitzer). Riethe, who has already played Seriema in past productions, will now perform the role for the first time in English. "This is a very special moment to produce Betty's play here in the US. The story presents major modern themes, such as motherhood and empowerment, and questions gender identity and women's reclaiming of themselves in the context of cultural clash," says Riethe.

The play is being produced by Melamed's Psykout! theater, a new company dedicated to
producing works centered around themes of science and technology. "I've always been fascinated with science," says Melamed, "but a lot of great scientists aren't great communicators. There's a huge gap between popular understanding and the truly awesome benefits that science has to offer. Betty's play bridges that gap in a way that makes some of the most complex ideas in psychoanalysis accessible to a modern audience, especially considering the current cultural zeitgeist around identity, race and gender."