For about a year and a half, I had been dying to see Freud’s Last Session, an Off Broadway production that is set only a few weeks before Sigmund Freud takes his own life.  It is based on a conversation that Freud supposedly had with a young C.S. Lewis: a comedy!  Now, I’ve studied a little about Freud and, although found some of his theories to be a little out there, I grew to really like and appreciate him for the genius that he was, but I had never heard the words “Freud” and “comedy” in the same sentence, let alone in a work of fiction.  I just had to see it.  There was only one problem…finding someone to go with me.

You would think that, seeing how it was a play, there would be no issue in getting someone to go with me; I would go to see most plays if asked to accompany someone…but with this particular one, I was wrong.  It appears that many people have very negative views on Freud.  I don’t know why; I think he’s fascinating.  The main argument against Freud is that all of his theories stemmed back to one thing: sex.  In my opinion, people are forgetting one very important thing, or rather; they do not have the knowledge of one very important thing: Freud was not as stuck to his ideas as we have been trained to think.  In fact, he was constantly revising his theories whenever he would be presented with information that would make him start to question them; pretty much up until the end.  I think that’s why I respect Freud, because he was not afraid to be wrong and, to change and grow. 

That being said, you’d think that anyone would jump at the chance to attend Freud’s Last Session with me, but sadly, that was not the case.  I was out shopping with a friend of mine, Jen, who loves to see shows, and just mentioned the play in passing.  Even though I know she is up to seeing pretty much anything on Broadway, I had no idea that she would actually want to see this play with me.  Luckily for me, she did :).  We bought the tickets that day for the following Friday, and I was so excited.  Finally!

The day of the show, Jen met me by my place and we took the LIRR into the city and then subway’d uptown on the C; after all, the play was on the west side.  We decided to eat before the show, and stumbled into this quaint restaurant Sosa Borella, which specializes in Italian and Argentine cuisine.  The staff was friendly and accommodating, and the food was amazing.  I had spinach agnolotti in a lamb Bolognese, which was to die for (I’d never had a lamb Bolognese before) and Jen had the same, but in a delicious cream sauce…each paired with a glass of wine of course; who am I to have pasta without wine. 

We were in and out in under an hour, and leisurely walked across 8^th Avenue and down West 50^th to our destination.  I was so excited!  I was finally going to see Freud!  The play is being held at New World Stages, which has an interesting set-up.  You enter into this little building and immediately walk down stairs; this is where the ticket booths are, and the attendants who direct you down yet another flight of stairs.  Then the area opens up and there are a bunch of tiny theatres; amongst the plays are Rent and Avenue Q, both of which I have seen. 

Our seats were second row Orchestra: amazing seats.  I could not have asked for better.  We were told that there was no photography allowed due to the fact that it was a quiet stage.  I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but I sneakily took a quick picture of the set before the lights went down; no way was I going to leave the play I had been dying to see for so long without a picture J.  The lights went down, the play started to unfold, and I soon realized what a “quiet stage” meant.  The play consisted entirely of two actors (without intermission; don’t worry, it’s only an hour and a half!), and there were times where there were breaks in the dialogue. 

Freud’s Last Session, was everything that I expected it to be; it was an evening of dry academic humor with discussions on religion, suicide, and of course, sex.  The best part: I got my Playbill signed by both of the actors after the performance!

I won’t spoil the show for anyone who may want to attend, but this is a must see.  And who knows, I might just be there :).