BAFTA Writers Unveil Dr Freud Will See You Now, Mrs Hitler

Making its world premiere this autumn, Dr Freud Will See You Now, Mrs Hitler is a new dark comedy from BAFTA award-winning writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran (Birds of a Feather, BBC 1; Dreamboats and Petticoats, West End; The New Statesman, BBC 1). This groundbreaking and plausible play reimagines a history in which Adolf Hitler visited Sigmund Freud for psychiatric treatment. This production by Chromolume (Road Show, In Clay, Tom Lehrer Is Teaching Math And Doesn’t Want To Talk To You, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown), the in-house company at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, is backed by extensive research. The compelling story offers a new perspective on two profoundly influential figures of the 20th century who never met, but could have.

Set in late-19th century Vienna, the production takes inspiration from a recommendation given by Hitler’s childhood doctor that he should visit a children’s psychiatric clinic opened by the world-renowned psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. In reality, Adolf’s father refused to take him for treatment. This poignant new work explores whether the 20th century’s greatest psychoanalyst could have saved humanity from the era’s greatest psychopath.

The show moves from biting dry humour to creeping dread, leaving the audience to consider what therapy can and cannot achieve in the face of monstrous potential. Written by the British Academy Writer’s Award-winning duo behindBirds of a Feather andGoodnight Sweetheart, a 60-minute version of the play was originally broadcast in 2007 as part of BBC Radio 4’sThe Saturday Play. This production is the first time the show will be fully realised on stage. Produced by Chromolume, the in-house company at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, it will be directed by the Gatehouse Artistic Director Isaac Bernier-Doyle (Road Show,Upstairs at the Gatehouse;Blood Gold and Oil,Upstairs at the Gatehouse/ Riverside Studios;You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Upstairs at the Gatehouse /China Tour;Tom Lehrer Is Teaching Math And Doesn’t Want To Talk To You, Upstairs at the Gatehouse).Dr Freud Will See You Now, Mrs Hitler is a deeply researched piece, with strong connections to the Freud Museum in Hampstead – the location where the Freud family lived after escaping Vienna. 

Writer Laurence Marks comments,Our play was a result of many years of studious reading, when it suddenly occurred to us that it was possible that two of the greatest German-speaking figures of the 20th century could have met one another. Our curiosity was such as to imagine what might have happened had they done so…and when we came to that conclusion, we thought a stage play was brewing.  This is a work of the imagination, of course, but the line in the play, said by Sigmund Freud, “It’s fascinating how, as modern life becomes more complex, the masses look to their leaders for ever more simple solutions”, really resonated with what is happening over in the United States and Russia, under the Presidency of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. This is very much a play for today.  We must never forget at this very moment in history the impact Freud and Hitler had on our lives, even if they are on the horizon of our memories. Would today’s world have been a vastly different place had the two men really met?

Main Image: Dr Freud photo by samcandesign

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