Summerhall, Edinburgh
Three stars
Sigmund Freud: so much to answer for. This is certainly the case in terms of the original pop therapist’s relationship with Emma Eckstein. The well-heeled Viennese twenty-something only became a patient of her soon to be guru in search of a solution to her endometriosis. In terms of diagnosis, however, once she took up residence on Freud’s chaise longue she got considerably more than she bargained for. After a series of increasingly ludicrous claims from Freud and his scalpel wielding pal Wilhelm Fliess regarding Eckstein’s condition, she found herself scarred for life before following in Freud’s footsteps and becoming a psychoanalyst herself.
If such real life doctor/patient shenanigans in high places sounds like the template for some steampunk style historical reboot, this new play by Becca Robin Dunn and Claire Macallister doesn’t go quite that far, but neither is it shy of taking liberties. This is the case from the start by way of a mash up of risqué contemporary pop bangers that usher in Olivia Millar-Ross’ production for Dunn and Macallister’s HISSYFIT outfit, produced here by the Scissor Kick company. Each scene is punctuated too with some voguish period shape throwing care of movement director Melanie Jordan set to Niroshini Thambar’s eerie sound design.
There is initial levity as Dunn and Eckstein embody their roles, with Dunn playing Eckstein and Macallister as Freud. Dunn’s doubling up as Fliess is played as a comic pastiche that is a particular sucker punch for what follows. Freud’s litany of greatest hits, meanwhile, sees him put the blame for pretty much everything on excessive masturbation. Eckstein goes willingly into such narcissistic indulgences as she and Freud become friends and confidantes over her many years of treatment. What happens next, however, is a horrific abuse of power, male or otherwise, in its treatment of a woman’s body. As Freudian slips go, this is pretty damning stuff in a playful and inventive reassessment of male genius.
The Herald, April 27th 2026
ends
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