Hervé Dubourjal Portrays Sigmund Freud in Psychological Thriller at La Reine Blanche

At La Reine Blanche, Hervé Dubourjal directs and performs as Sigmund Freud opposite Moana Ferré as his daughter Anna in a play set in 1934 Vienna. Written by Aude De Tocqueville and Jean-Marie Sinety, the production adopts a detective-story format to interrogate psychoanalytic theories, particularly the Oedipus complex. Freud, aged 78 and suffering from jaw cancer, remains in his office as political turmoil escalates, with Austria moving toward dictatorship and eventual annexation by Nazi Germany. The staging features Freud's legendary couch, African statuettes, and projections of collapsing buildings. Dubourjal's portrayal captures Freud's enigmatic, cigar-smoking persona, while Ferré's Anna challenges her father on the validity of his theories, questioning why he minimized women's and children's suffering. Their confrontation evolves into a police-like interrogation, exploring Freud's family history, including his father Jakob's actions. The bi-frontal stage design creates intimacy with the audience, accompanied by Mahler's music. The play leaves questions unanswered, maintaining suspense about the collapse of Freud's foundational myths.