Hans: Analysis of Phobia in a Five Year-Old Boy, Written and Directed by David Pilot
Online, September 1, 2011 (Newswire.com) - West End Theatre - David Pilot and Hans Project are proud to present, "Hans: Analysis of Phobia in a Five Year-Old Boy" based on Sigmund Freud's 1909 landmark case study Little Hans, Analysis of Phobia in a Five Year-Old Boy. Hans is a hero's tale of a young boy's escape from the imposition of neurosis into revelation of self.
In agreeing to observe and report on the psychological and emotional development of their first child as encouraged by Freud, Hans' parents have been interpreted as infringing on their child's intimacy and committing boundary violation. It is through this violation, that Hans' apparent obsession with his "widdler" became the focal point of numerous Freud's theories including the Oedipal Complex amd Castration Complex. The ripple effects of history's first child psychoanalysis still reverberate today.
As the son of a Freudian psychiatrist, Pilot identifies with Hans and his story, having personally been analyzed as a child and the subject of a case history. Working on the play has been as much of a catharsis as it has been an exploration and understanding of Pilot's own personal relationships with his family.
This recent exploration, the all female version, presents the opportunity to witness Freud from a female perspective, and more justly balance what has traditionally been an overtly male outlook on the human psyche. Perhaps we have come full circle from the Elizabethan age where men dominated the stage.
In researching Hans as a case history with academics from the psychoanalytic community, Pilot has discovered that the case continues to be a fascinating focal point in the approach to therapy and the understanding of child psychoanalysis. This is a case of transformation and vindication, an aspect which Pilot attempts to bring forth in the play.
The laboratory workshop has incorporated structured improvisations and research and has led the ensemble to deeper insights into this narrative and these real life characters. The result is a dense fabric of character interaction woven together with live music, drawing, painting and sculpture, to create a dreamlike foray into neurosis and analysis.
How did little Hans find his salvation? Was it through his psychoanalysis, or despite it. Perhaps, he found it through the arts. This is an aspect totally overlooked by Freud, but his parents, both musicologists, greatly influenced his growth and his later success as an opera singer and producer. The healing nature of art takes us into the world of the soul and the spirit, far from the scientific world of Freudian analysis.
Austin Pendleton, as the voice of Freud (Sept 17, 18, 23) and Andre De Shields (Sept 24, 25), dissect the behavior of little Hans with an all female ensemble and live music by composer David Cieri. Guest artists in the role of Freud also including: (Dr. John M. Ross, Ph.D. - Sept. 19 and 20, Valery Oisteanu - Sept. 21 and 22).
Following the performances, recent revelations about the original case study will inform panel discussions with leading psychoanalysts and academics on Freud, including Dr. John M. Ross, Ph.D. (Clinical Professor - Columbia and Weill Cornell Medical Centers), Dr. Robert Landy, Ph.D. (Director - NYU Drama Therapy Program), Dr. Harold Blum, Ph.D. (Executive Director of the Freud Archives at the U.S. Library of Congress) and Dr. Jennifer Stuart, Ph.D. (Faculty: NYU Psychoanalytic Institute).
$18 - Reservations required
Ticket Information:
646.242.3043
tickets@hansproject.com
Press Inquiries:
917.755.0653
elaverty@hansproject.com
Visit http://www.hansproject.com for details