Metropolitan Playhouse
Virtual Playhouse
Presents
A Screened Reading
of

SUPPRESSED DESIRES
Written by Susan Glaspell and George Cram Cook

Featuring
LIAN-MARIE HOLMES, SARAH HANKINS, & JOHN LONG

Directed by MICHAEL HARDART

Scenic Design: VINCENT GUNN

www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/virtualplayhouse

May 16, 2020 at 8 p.m.

This totally enjoyable and relatable light comedy takes us back to 1915 Greenwich Village, full of Bohemians and free-thinkers delighted to be breaking the chains of Victorianism. Henrietta has gone over-the-top for the psychoanalysis craze. She reads all the books, goes to an analyst, and never stops talking about it. Never. Her husband, Stephen, reluctantly, and a bit condescendingly, is forced to listen. Her sister, Mabel, naively tries to keep up, but doesn’t have a clue.

Mabel unwisely blurts out that she had a dream about being a chicken. Henrietta swoops in to analyze it for her “naïve, bourgeoise” sister. She finds meaning in everything! The look on Mabel’s face, the fact that she accidentally knocks a plate off the table, it’s all very deep and revealing! In fact, Henrietta informs Mabel (at great verbal length) that she has “issues” and repressed desires galore. She orders poor Mabel to see the analyst immediately or risk the dangerous effects of holding in her hidden urges.

Henrietta doesn’t miss a beat. Her laser eyes shift to husband Stephen. Stop mocking me! Do you have dreams, she asks him. Uh-oh. It’s his turn to be grilled on his deeply hidden probably scandalous inner needs. She demands that he, too, visit the analyst.

Both unfortunate souls follow her advice. They come home amazed and confused. Can what the analyst said be true? When Henrietta hears their revelations, the appalled Freudian snaps back into reality very quickly. Lesson learned.

This was a most excellent production. Perfectly cast and directed, it was as amusing now as it would have been 100 years ago. Kudos to all!

-Karen D’Onofrio-