Steven Lehrer _________ Three Plays about Doctors War and Psychoanalysis The Family Doctor The Abortionist 1 War and Psychoanalysis copyright 2010 by Steven Lehrer The Family Doctor copyright 2010 by Steven Lehrer The Abortionist copyright 2009 by Steven Lehrer Cover illustration: Sigmund Freud (1926), photo by Ferdinand Schmutzler Contact:
[email protected] http://stevenlehrer.com 2 CONTENTS WAR AND 4 PSYCHOANALYSIS THE FAMILY 104 DOCTOR THE 202 ABORTIONIST 3 WAR AND PSYCHOANALYSIS 4 CAST OF CHARACTERS PROFESSOR DOCTOR SIGMUND FREUD, age 65, immaculately coiffed and dressed in an expensive three piece suit. When we see Freud he is either holding a cigar or has a cigar in his mouth. DR. HEINRICH ROSEN, a middle-aged doctor, almost completely blind STEFANIE GAISMAN, a beautiful, unstable young woman; the same actress plays FRÄULEIN PETER and is the sarcastic, caustic voice of the DYBBUK, by far the smartest, most perceptive character in the play. THE RAT MAN (Ernst Lanzer), an officer and army deserter with severe post traumatic stress disorder. He is a small man who resembles a rat, also plays SEXTON and MASKED FIGURE. THE RAT MAN'S FATHER, a huge, hulking, brutal man, also plays RABBI, BARON GAISMAN, and MILITARY DOCTOR.MAID, an offstage voice with two lines in scene 21. SETTING The entire action of the play takes place in the Vienna consulting room of Professor Doctor Sigmund Freud. The year is 1921. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The author acknowledges his debt to Prof. Dr. Sigmund Freud and his followers: Carl Gustav Jung, Sandor Ferenczi, and Woody Allen. With a nod to Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, F.