Thursday, July 8, 2010 — Under the capable direction of the Peterborough Players' Gus Kaikkonen, featuring George Morfogen as Sigmund Freud and Ian Merrill Peakes as C. S. Lewis, this one-act play is a fictional account of a meeting between Freud, the famous psychoanalyst, and Lewis, professor, writer and author of the Narnia series, on the eve of World War II. There is no evidence the two ever actually met, but an imagined meeting between two men with such divergent views sets the stage for compelling dialog. Freud was an unapologetic and outspoken atheist. Lewis, raised Christian, abandoned his faith at an early age and became an atheist, but later returned to his Christian roots. He was a practicing Christian at the time of this fictional meeting.
This sounds like it could be very cerebral and intellectual, but there are many flashes of humor throughout the play. As the two men, resolute in their opposing positions, debate the existence of God, the conversation is at times calm and studied, sometimes acrimonious, often witty, and occasionally loud, especially on Freud's part. At the time of the fictional meeting, Freud is 83 years old, frail, and gravely ill with cancer. His condition evokes compassion and sympathy from Lewis in spite of their philosophical differences. Morfogen and Peakes are masterful in their roles. Both American, their Austrian and British accents, respectively, are convincing.
The play reaches no conclusion on whether or not God exists, and it's unlikely to change your views on the matter. That's not the play's intention. It's simply a debate between two men with irreconcilable views, and little in common except their humanity.
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