excerpt
People live their lives without listening to themselves, with a tin ear. Some even die without ever having listened to themselves, eternally deaf to themselves… to their own body, which screams rather than talks. A deafness that in itself is enough to justify psychoanalysis. If it even still needs to be justified.
synopsis
The third generation of a family of Lebanese immigrants in Brazil, Seriema lives the drama of a Western descendant of a people from the Middle East. Her ancestors needed to sire a male first-born to meet the expectations of the family. Pregnancy becomes a problem for Seriema, who following two miscarriages and contrary to her wishes, separates from her husband. Why is motherhood impossible for her? Is it because she cannot identify with the women in her family or some other reason?
Seriema decides to leave Brazil in order to forget the drama of separation. She wins a grant and goes to France, where she begins analysis. Through it, she discovers the true reason why she cannot give birth, namely the unconscious desire to satisfy the will of her father, who never authorized her to conceive. Thanks to listening to the analyst, Seriema ceases to be the victim of her unconscious, grasps the possibility of choosing a father for her child and thus becoming a mother.
The play is structured around the sessions. The way each session ends is always a function of what is said during it, and the text clearly indicates this. The Doctor, by interrupting the session to interpret the analysand’s words, thereby underscores the essential elements of what she has said. Each session is one scene; given the nationality of the analysand, the transition from one scene to another can be punctuated by a drumbeat.
history
Adeus, Doutor was written in Portuguese and translated into French by the author in collaboration with Jean Sarzana. In elaborating the play, the author had the guidance of French director Antoine Bourseiller. In 2008, a first reading of the text took place in São Paulo, with Bete Coelho and Ricardo Bittencourt. Direction was by the French director Jean-Luc Paliès. In 2009 he directed a reading of the text in Paris, at the Theater du Rondpoint. In March 2010 there was a new reading at the Theater Sesc Santana theater with Bete Coelho and Zé Celso (web clip).
In 2018 there was a lecture in the New York School of Arts and Richard Ledes bought the rights do adapt the play to the movie with David Patrick Kelly in the role of Lacan.
In 2024, the play was staged by Psykout in New York at the Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre A.R.T. The director was Debora Balardini. Jerry Topitzer played the role of Lacan and Barbara Riethe played the role of Seriema.
Access the text of Goodbye, Doctor here.