DR FREUD WILL SEE YOU NOW, MRS HITLER

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

★★★★

“As an insight into the lives of both protagonists, it is a very worthwhile evening.”

From Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the writers of Birds of a Feather, Roll Over Beethoven, The New Statesman and a multitude of other celebrated TV comedy dramas, comes this new work, premiered at UATG.

It’s an odd one. Not a comedy, but with comic moments. Not an imagined story, but a fantasy setting of four seminal meetings of these two huge figures who, it could be said, actually changed the world. Not a play with tension – we know the ending for these characters, after all. And it also takes a bit of time to get into it. The opening scenes are clunky, if dramatic. But when it gets into its stride, this is a first class evening’s entertainment for anyone interested in these giants of 20th century history and how their actions still resonate now.

The basic premise of the play, directed by UATG’s artistic director Isaac Bernier-Doyle, is straightforward. As an infant, Adolf Hitler suffers from nightmares and bedwetting. Mrs Hitler (played by Nesba Crenshaw who skilfully transitions into Mrs Freud in subsequent scenes) takes him to the family doctor who recommends that the child attend a new nervous disorders clinic, run by you-know-who. Her extremely violent husband refuses to let her. But what if he had? Could proper psychological treatment have changed the course of history?

This is the clunky bit. Anna Freud (acted with great warmth by lovely Ruby Ablett) introduces and closes the play with this question. It is not very clear why the narrative arc is given to her to manage. And in the first of four main imaginary scenes of meetings between Hitler and Freud, the attempt to analyse Hitler doesn’t really hit the right note – although Hitler’s introduction into the scene as a child is suitably comic. Freud’s ‘analysis’ of Hitler is cursory, and we already know what is causing the problem.

After that, the drama gets going. Through successive encounters over the period leading up to the Second World War we see Hitler become the man he is going to be. His paranoia and inherited violent nature emerges; his belief that he is at core a misunderstood and rejected artist is given reign; and his need for attention and praise is on full display. So, actually, the answer to the ‘what if’ question is ‘no’. Because what you get here is snippets of the real lives and real personalities of Freud and Hitler. The research behind this play was impeccable and manifests in the coincidences that Marks and Gran have used to create the structure the play. As an insight into the lives of both protagonists, it is a very worthwhile evening.

What it is not, however, is a comedy. There are laughs and light moments. Apparently, Freud was known for his love of humour, but he makes bad jokes and the audience laughter was rare. I wondered if the subject matter at its heart was just too dark for us to laugh at it. Or maybe because the consequences of Hitler’s antisemitism still echo down this century.

A word about the key performances. Jonathan Taffler is Sigmund Freud. He really is. He was an utterly believable character, in turns ironic, arch and strong but always kind. Sam Mac as Hitler is completely watchable: needy, boastful, resentful and his outbursts of anger (cleverly echoed in a soundscape of Hitler’s actual speeches) are sinister. If he is trying to be funny, maybe we just can’t laugh at Hitler – although this is not the first such attempt. The set, too, is designed very skilfully – by Hannah Danson, with lighting by Simon Jackson – to allow out-of-sight scenes to play and it amplifies the darkness of the era.

In the closing scene, Anna brings forward one more coincidence. Freud died (at a place near ‘here’- Hampstead) in September 1939. Hitler ‘lived a little longer’.

DR FREUD WILL SEE YOU NOW, MRS HITLER

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Reviewed on 10th September 2025

by Louise Sibley

Photography by Chromolume

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FOUR WOMEN AND A FUNERAL | ★★★ | August 2025

SHOUT! THE MOD MUSICAL | ★★★ | June 2025

ORDINARY DAYS | ★★★★ | April 2025

ENTERTAINING MURDER | ★★★ | November 2024

THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE | ★★★ | September 2024

TOM LEHRER IS TEACHING MATH AND DOESN’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU | ★★ | May 2024

IN CLAY | ★★★★★ | March 2024

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD | ★★★ | February 2024

DR FREUD

★★★

“Stand out performance of the night goes to Enzo Benvenuti”

The Boys From Syracuse playing Upstairs at the Gatehouse, is a pared down production of the 1938 hit by Rodgers and Hart, with everyone doubling up on roles.

The musical is based on Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors, when two sets of identical twins Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse (John Faal in the dual role) were separated as children from each other in a shipwreck; along with their servants, both named Dromio (Brendan Matthew in the dual role). When the pair from Syracuse come to Ephesus, a comedy of errors and mistaken identities ensues when the wives of the Ephesians, Adriana (Caroline Kennedy) and her servant Luce (Karen Wilkinson), mistake the two strangers for their husbands. Adriana’s sister Luciana (Georgie Faith) and the Syracuse Antipholus fall in love. But all ends happily with some fun puppetry!

This is a silly musical set in Roman times, you know it’s old Italy because the tiled adverts on the set include Rent A Chariot. The songs are classics including Falling In Love With Love and This Can’t Be Love. All the cast have good voices and in act two, the female trio of Adriana, Luciana and Luce perform Sing For Your Supper, with clear and strong harmonies which is a delight.

Stand out performance of the night goes to Enzo Benvenuti as both the Duke and the Sergeant – his smile inducing characters played with comedy and verve.

Directed by Mark Giesser, the pace meant in the most part the comedy did not sparkle. The costumes (Alice McNicholas) were distracting as you tried to work out the differences between the complicatedly patterned bright waistcoats, which did not help to differentiate the twins with ease – making it harder to separate who was who. The accents did also drop at times which did not help either.

The set was simple with the comedic tiled backdrop and one platform. However, the unnecessary three “marble” boxes were continually moved by the cast for no reason, adding nothing to the production at all. And the stand alone single front door on wheels, was an embarrassment for poor John Faal, when his Antipholus of Ephesus is locked out of his house, and bangs and tries to open it. But the door just moved and wobbled horribly. Maybe try to turn it into a comedy moment by moving the door back and forth on its wheels with purpose?

The five piece band, a fantastic luxury in such a small space, was led by Musical Director Benjamin Levy on the piano. Some of the songs felt they could have been slightly more up tempo, but it was a tight team of musicians with a good sound balance with the cast.

Upstairs at the Gatehouse is known for putting on big musical theatre shows, and some clearly work better in the space with a small cast, than others.

Tag Archives: Chromolume

DR FREUD WILL SEE YOU NOW, MRS HITLER

★★★★

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

DR FREUD WILL SEE YOU NOW, MRS HITLER

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

★★★★

“As an insight into the lives of both protagonists, it is a very worthwhile evening.”