Hysteria has a lot of potential on paper: Two big, very different and interesting personalities from history meet. On one side you have penis-envy psychologist Sigmund Freud (Antony Sher) and on the other avant garde, surrealist painter Salvadore Dali (Adrian Schiller).

 

The two did meet in London during the Second World War having fled conflict in their respective homelands - Austria and Spain - and if the play focused entirely on their meeting and the clash of personality then it might work. Equally if the play focused entirely on the second plot line - the unexpected arrival of a young woman who is obsessed with a past case of Freud's - then it might work but the two combined just sit really awkwardly.

 

This reminded me how much I loved this production and particularly these two who had such brilliant chemistry. Catch it while you can, it finishes at the end of the month in Stratford before moving on to Newcastle in October for a month.