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Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman |
Extraordinary portrait of patient and her (appalling) psychiatrist
DUET FOR ONE
Vaudeville Theatre
TOM Kempinski’s powerful two-hander about the cruelty of the disabling disease multiple sclerosis, based loosely on the life story of cellist Jacqueline du Pré, is back again in the West End having transferred from the Almeida Theatre.
Since its original production 30 years ago, it has been staged in 46 countries and turned into a Hollywood film with Julie Andrews cast (unfortunately) as the concert violinist struck down by MS at the peak of her career.
Juliet Stevenson brings an extraordinary range of emotions to her outstanding portrayal of violinist Stephanie Abrahams. Over six sessions with psychiatrist Dr Feldman (played with panache by Henry Goodman), key elements of Stephanie’s character are slowly revealed through discussions about her childhood, her determination to be a violinist from a young age, her relationships with her parents and husband and, now, her inability to play the violin. Stephanie initially resists the doctor’s suggestions, arguing against his interpretations, only to reveal things she had hardly appreciated herself.
As the therapeutic process becomes more intense, she goes to pieces, providing the space for her to develop the confidence to face her future.
The portrayal of the unfortunate violinist will be familiar to anyone acquainted with an MS sufferer. Strikingly, the portrayal of the doctor provides a vivid and welcome reminder of the appalling procedures and practices of psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and psychiatrists at the time the play was written, only 30 years ago.
Dr Feldman sits in silence, twiddling his thumbs and eating fruit-drops, while his victim client battles with her distress.
He pushes pills with abandon; he refuses to respond to questions; he charges £200 per session; he is judgmental, a bully and a pipe-smoker.
It’s no wonder some of his clients killed themselves.
It’s little wonder, too, that he is described as being a psychiatrist.
Otherwise, north London’s army of Freudians, Jungians and other psychoanalysts would be hopping up and down with rage, protesting about the insult to their profession.
Until August 1
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