Freud's Last Session Makes its Midwest Premiere at The Mercury Theater

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Chicago, IL - FREUD’S LAST SESSION, the runaway hit play by Mark St. Germain now in its second successful year in New York, is coming “for a session” at the Mercury Theater (3745 N. Southport, Chicago), making its Midwest Premiere previewing March 14, opening March 25 at 5pm and running through June 3. FREUD’S LAST SESSION won the 2011 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play.

The Off-Broadway premiere engagement of FREUD’S LAST SESSION opened on July 22, 2010 to rave reviews and immediately became a sellout sensation. FREUD’S LAST SESSION stars Mark H. Dold as C. S. Lewis and Martin Rayner as Sigmund Freud, under the direction of Tyler Marchant. Additional productions of FREUD’S LAST SESSION are set through 2012 in major markets across the nation and around the world including London, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Mexico City, Seattle, Atlanta, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Palm Beach.

FREUD’S LAST SESSION centers on legendary psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud, who invites the 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 – only 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. Mark St. Germain’s celebrated new play was suggested by the bestselling book The Question of God by Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., professor of psychology at Harvard University.

 
There have been an unusually large number of celebrity spottings at FREUD’S LAST SESSION in New York, including such luminaries as Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Neil Simon, Barbara Walters, Andy Rooney, Jerry Stiller, Christiane Amanpour, Marcia Gay Harden, Dick Cavett, John Cleese, Dr. Ruth, Patricia Heaton, Dan Lauria, Celeste Holm, T.R. Knight, Peter Shaffer, Tina Louise, Warner Wolf, Victoria Jackson, Cornel West, The Amazing Kreskin, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Playwright Mark St. Germain has written the plays Camping with Henry and Tom (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards), The Best of Enemies, Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap, and Forgiving Typhoid Mary. With Randy Courts, he has written the musicals The Gifts of the Magi, Johnny Pye and the Foolkiller and Jack’s Holiday. TV credits include Writer and Creative Consultant for The Cosby Show. Mark co-wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed film Duma, and he directed and co-produced the documentary My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story featuring Richard Gere, Glenn Close and Edward Albee, among many others

Mark H. Dold appeared on Broadway in Absurd Person Singular, and his Off-Broadway credits include Shockheaded Peter,Comic Potential, Race, The Winter’s Tale, Othello, The Seagull, Romeo and Juliet, Spread Eagle, and Timon of Athens. Regionally, Mark has appeared at the Mark Taper Forum, Old Globe (San Diego Critics Circle Award), Chicago Shakespeare, Shakespeare DC, Long Wharf (Connecticut Critics Circle Award), Trinity Rep, and Yale Rep.

Martin Rayner’s Broadway credits include The Invention of Love and Sixteen Wounded. His Off-Broadway appearances include Travels with My Aunt,Gates of Gold, Henry V, and Kit Marlowe. Martin’s favorite regional roles were at Yale Rep: Underground and You Never Can Tell; McCarter: Loot; American Repertory Theater: King Lear and When We Dead Awaken; Wilma: The Invention of Love and The Magic Fire. TV credits include Dr. Chaotica on Star Trek: Voyager, Frasier and Benjamin Franklin.

FREUD’S LAST SESSION is presented in Chicago and Off-Broadway by Carolyn Rossi Copeland, Robert Stillman and Jack Thomas. Scenic design is by Brian Prather, costume design by Mark Mariani, lighting design by Clifton Taylor, and sound design by Beth Lake.

The performance schedule is Wednesdays at 2pm and 7:30pm, Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm and Sundays at 1pm and 4pm. Tickets range from $55 to $45. Student tickets are $22 (with valid student ID) and a limited number of rush tickets are available at the box office beginning three hours prior to each performance. For tickets and information contact the Mercury Theater at 773-325-1700 or www.mercurytheaterchicago.com.

For more information, visit www.FreudsLastSession.com.