10 minutes with … Mark St. Germain

NEW YORK (RNS) In playwright Mark St. Germain’s new off-Broadway play, “Freud’s Last Session,” the existence of God is on trial. For the defense: 40-year-old Oxford professor C.S. Lewis, a recent convert to Christianity. For the prosecution: 83-year-old Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis and determined atheist. They meet in Freud’s London study on Sept. 3, […]

(RNS1-SEP15) Martin Rayner, left, plays Sigmund Freud and Mark H. Dold plays C.S. Lewis in Mark St. Germain’s new off-Broadway play, “Freud’s Last Session.” For use with RNS-10-MINUTES, transmitted Sept. 15, 2010. RNS photo courtesy Kevin Sprague.

NEW YORK (RNS) In playwright Mark St. Germain’s new off-Broadway play, “Freud’s Last Session,” the existence of God is on trial.

For the defense: 40-year-old Oxford professor C.S. Lewis, a recent convert to Christianity. For the prosecution: 83-year-old Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis and determined atheist.


They meet in Freud’s London study on Sept. 3, 1939, as the world heads into World War II. Lewis believes “man does not have to be an imbecile to believe in God.” Freud, meanwhile, calls Christ’s teaching “naive and destructive,” asking “should Poland turn the other cheek to Hitler?”

Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What was the inspiration for the play?

A: I had read Dr. Armand Nicholi’s book, “The Question of God,” and it contrasted the views of Freud and Lewis. In the last chapter, he mentioned that there was a young Oxford don who visited Freud before his death and he said, “Wouldn’t have been interesting if it were Lewis?” For me, that immediately set off bells, and I thought it would be a tremendous play to have these men in a room together, to dramatize their differences.

Q: What is your own faith background?

A: I was raised Roman Catholic but I am currently unaffiliated with any church. I feel that if you belong to a club, you need to play by the rules. I don’t believe in any of the tenets of the Catholic Church. The more I disagreed, I said this is not something I can support, whether it’s views on birth control or women’s rights. Considering women played such an active role in the beginning of the church, why did it turned into a men’s club? I don’t see any reason for that.

Q: Can you identify any lingering influences of being raised Catholic?

A: I don’t know if it’s particular to being raised Roman Catholic. I went to Catholic grammar school, high school, college and graduate school. I’m very grateful to have a background in the Bible. I’m glad I learned everything I learned, but it doesn’t stay with me. But there’s a constant reflection of what you are doing and what’s right and wrong, what is the purpose we are here for.

Q: “Freud” isn’t the only one of your plays that deals with questions of morality. In “The God Committee,” a hospital group decides who will get the next available heart. Why is that?

A: I love comedies, I’ve done a bunch of musicals, but it struck me that if I’m going to write a play, it really had better be worth the time you spend writing it, and I hope it’s worth the time for people to come and see it. A play always starts with a question: “How is it people are chosen, one person over another, for a heart donation?” Or, “How can these two incredibly intelligent men have such totally different reactions to almost every topic, whether it’s faith, sex, morality?”


Q: What kind of reactions have you gotten?

A: I’ve gotten very positive reaction. I got a letter from one couple who went to see the play. One was staunchly in Freud’s camp — any belief in God is a foolish thing — the other more in Lewis’ camp. They went to dinner afterward and found out they had totally reversed their opinions.

Q: The play is set in 1939. What gives it resonance today?

A: There is a lot of resonance. I set it on the day England entered World War II. We are still entering wars every day. The world is as uncertain today as then, even more uncertain since then there was a clearer enemy. The questions are eternal questions. I do think it’s very contemporary. Passion about religion has never changed.

Q: You say you’re no longer “affiliated,” but does your personal view on faith lean more toward Lewis’ or Freud’s?

A: Like Dr. Nicholi, I plead the Fifth. I’m hoping when people see the play, it’s evenhanded and they wouldn’t be able to guess what camp I’m in. In different ways, I think both men are right. In any drama, the strongest drama, both people have to be right or you don’t have strong drama, you just have a propaganda piece.

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