This richly theatrical work dramatizes the effects of Sigmund Freud's theories of hysteria on the lives of the patients on whom these theories and the resulting therapies were first tried - and on those living subsequently. The progress of two parallel case histories with differing results is monitored by a committee of witnesses that is made up of twentieth-century women who could be considered, in differing degrees, victims of Freud's teachings; Anais Nin,, Virginia Woolf, Bertha Pappenheim, and Marie Farrar. One would anticipate viewing the events of the drama through such a filter would prejudice the case against Freud, but Dori Appel manages to make him personally and intellectually engaging, while still remaining doggedly Teutonic. This is the great delight of this work. It is not the polemic one expects, and the author persuasively leads her audience to draw their own conclusions. In effect, we get to join the committee of witnesses in viewing an intriguing moment in our cultural history. The drama is lively and delightfully compelling. There is a wonderful theatricality about its presentation.-- James Bierman, Oregon Book Award in Drama judge.