Hysteria - (Modern Plays) by Terry Johnson (Paperback)

About the Book

Terry Johnson's hilarious farce explores the meeting of two of the 20th century's most brilliant and original minds: Salvador Dalí and Sigmund Freud.

Book Synopsis

"One of the most brilliantly original and entertaining new plays I have seen in years: wild, weird and funny, serious, compassionate and shocking, blasphemous and reverential, intellectual and frivolous, a factual fantasy, a demented farce, a black nightmare." - The Sunday TImes

1938. Hampstead, London. Sigmund Freud has fled Nazi-occupied Austria and settled in leafy Swiss Cottage. At 82 years old, he aims to spend his final days in peace. However, when Salvador Dalí turns up to discover a less-than-fully dressed woman in the closet, peace becomes somewhat elusive...

An acknowledged modern classic, Terry Johnson's hilarious farce explores the fall-out when two of the 20th century's most brilliant and original minds collide. It touches on subjects including Nazi Germany, the Surrealist movement, Judaism, Freud's theories of the unconscious mind, family relationships, life and death, and love and loss.

Johnson's celebrated play raises intriguing questions about Freud's radical revision of his theories of hysteria.

Review Quotes

"One of the most brilliantly original and entertaining new plays I have seen in years: wild, weird and funny, serious, compassionate and shocking, blasphemous and reverential, intellectual and frivolous, a factual fantasy, a demented farce, a black nightmare." --The Sunday Times

"Uniting flurries of brilliantly developed farce with fizzing intellectual slapstick." --Independent

"Terry Johnson is that rare creature: a moralist with wit. He writes with responsible gaiety." --The Guardian

"Terry Johnson is a writer of cracking acting parts, and one of the critically cherished few who can build characters and action from a thematic starting point." --Independent on Sunday

About the Author

Terry Johnson's work as a playwright includes a version of Edward Ravenscroft's The London Cuckolds, Dead Funny, and Hysteria. He is the recipient of major British theatre awards including Playwright of the Year 1995; Critics' Circle Best New Play 1995; Writers' Guild Best West End Play 1995; Olivier Award Best Comedy 1994; the Meyer-Whitworth Award 1993; and the John Whiting Award 1991. He also won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical for his production of La Cage aux Folles. His play Piano/Forte premiered at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs in 2006.