Mrs Klein

Synopsis

London,1934. Melanie Klein is one of the most admired, yet controversial, psycho-analysts of her time, renowned for her unique insight into the secret world of childhood. But her relationship with her psycho-analyst daughter Melitta has been damaged almost beyond repair, and an unexpected message from abroad brings it to bitter confrontation. The news also poses a mystery that even Mrs. Klein, despite her genius for analysis, cannot solve. It is left to her new assistant, a refugee from Hitler’s Berlin, to find a possible answer.

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 30 October 2009

Mothers and daughters on the stage were given a whole new twist by Nicholas Wright in his wonderfully skilful play Mrs Klein, first seen at the National Theatre in 1988 but now performed all over the world.

Thea Sharrock’s revival may be a replacement for the Samuel Adamson play that never happened, but it punches its weight and proves that family business among the Jewish psychoanalysts - Mrs Klein herself, her daughter Melitta and a new disciple, Paula, gathered in a Hampstead drawing room in 1934 - is not necessarily a slapstick comedy.

More of a tragedy, in fact, as Mrs Klein’s relationship with her daughter unravels in the aftermath of her son’s death in a climbing accident. Maternal guilt and responsibility have become muddled in professional jargon, the great stylistic mode of Wright’s play, and straightforward expressions of love lost in a miasma of analytical interpretation.

Melanie Klein, a pioneer in her own righ...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

Paul Wallis - 28 November 2009:

Acting at its very best, especially from the sublime Clare Higgins. This play had me gripped from beginning to end. Intense, funny, moving, complex. This production is highly recommended....

Read more and add your own review

Related Whatsonstage.com Articles

Review Round-up: Critics Analyse Higgins' Klein 1st Night Photos: Higgins' Mrs Klein at Almeida More»