Freud’s Last Session

Did an afternoon meeting with the avowed atheist Sigmund Freud inspire Christian apologist C.S. Lewis to create his most personal – and most enduring – defense of God…? In this marvelous, witty, “what if…?” scenario, a dying Freud summons Lewis (then an ambitious young Oxford professor) to his London study – for reasons that gradually become clear. As a result, on the day in 1939 that England declares war on Germany (beginning World War II), the two men trade body blows and punch lines about what they each love and fear: war, death, God, sex, suffering…and their fathers (Not their mothers…!!).

Freud confronts the notion of belief in his final days, Lewis begins battling theological problems that will plague him for a lifetime, and we become witnesses to the kind of passionate, mindful, moving exchange that has forever spurred the human imagination.

Directed and Designed by Daniel vanHeyst. Starring Randy Ritz as Sigmund Freud & Michael Peng as C.S. Lewis.

Daniel vanHeyst – Director/Production Designer: Daniel is a Professor of Drama at The King’s University College, where he heads the drama, visual art, and communications programs. Since 1981, he has designed hundreds of professional, educational, and community theatre productions, including 14 seasons of The Canadian Badlands Passion Play. A past president of Theatre Alberta and resident designer at Theatre Network for 10 seasons, Daniel keeps active in Edmonton’s theatre community, particularly through recent shows with Kompany Family Theatre.

Michael Peng – C.S. Lewis: Since 1994 Michael has worked professionally in theatre as an actor, director, designer, teacher, and producer – in Alberta, Ontario, the U.S., and Europe. In 2008, he received his MFA in Theatre Directing at the University of Alberta and is Co-Artistic director of the critically acclaimed, award-winning Edmonton company, wishbone theatre. In Alberta, Michael’s busy freelance career has seen him performing with The Citadel Theatre, Northern Light Theatre, and Surreal SoReal Theatre, among others. Recent Fringe hits include lauded wishbone productions of Bashir Lazhar, by Evelyne de la Cheneliere (2009), SHIMMER, by John O’Keefe (2010), and Parlour Song, by Jez Butterworth (2012). Upcoming projects include performances in Sartre’s Shorts with Surreal SoReal and a new translation of Chekov’s The Three Sisters.

Randy Ritz – Sigmund Freud: As an actor, Randy has performed in Dallas, Berlin, Beijing and Thorsby, AB. He has directed over forty drama productions – many of them national in scope. Randy is also an author and curriculum writer for Standard Publishing, has produced two independent feature films including a supernatural thriller called “Unfinished Business” and he is a passionate educator and story coach. For thirty years he has served as chair of the Drama Department at Concordia University College.

Genre: Comedy/Drama; Rating: General Audience; Running Time: 75 minutes.

Tickets: $12.50 (General Admission): In Person at the Fringe Box Office, by phone (780) 409-1910, or online at www.fringetheatre.ca or www.tixonthesquare.ca.

All Performances at BYOV Venue #27, Holy Trinity Anglican Church Sanctuary

Friday, August 16, 5:00pm

Saturday, August 17, 6:15pm

Sunday, August 16, 7:30pm

Monday, August 19, 5:00pm

Tuesday , August 20, 8:15pm

Wednesday, August 21, 5:45pm

Thursday, August 22, 8:30pm

Friday, August 23, 5:00pm

Saturday, August 24, 7:45pm

Sunday, August 25, 6:30pm