C.G. Jung Society, Seattle C.G. Jung Society, SeattleOpening-night performance: Saturday, March 31, 2007, 7:30 p.m.
Good Shepherd Center Theater, 4th floor, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., Seattle
$15 for this opening-night gala fundraiser
Please RSVP to ecstern@yahoo.com
Public performances: Saturdays, April 21, June 16, July 14, 2007, 8 p.m.
Trinity Parish Episcopal Church, 609 8th Ave. (8th and James), Seattle (Directions)
$12 members of Jung Society, NW Alliance, COR, analytic programs; $15 general public
Additional public performance: Saturday, May 12, 2007, 8 p.m.
COR Northwest Family Development Center, 711 12th Ave., Seattle
$12 members of Jung Society, NW Alliance, COR, analytic programs; $15 general public
For all performances: Tickets at the door. Box office open at 7:30 p.m. (except March 31)
“..Tell me more about what the Old Man wants from you.....Why not?
I can offer you neither warmth nor comfort, but my young arms are strong. I can hold
your hand all the way down into your private Underworld....
Do not send me home. You know I can see into the inner recesses of your mind.
I know what you are thinking before you do.....
This is about your courage, Dr. Jung. Do you have the courage to face the truth of your
own nature, and in doing so, open your hand, your heart, and your mind, to mine?”
– Toni Wolff, Act One
Out of the Shadows by Elizabeth Clark Stern
The year is 1910. The work of Sigmund Freud and his heir-apparent, Carl Jung, are transforming the way the
world thinks about human nature and the inner recesses
of the mind. It is a time of experimentation, expansion,
and new frontiers of intellectual power. Into the heart of this world steps a twenty-two year-old woman, a new
patient of the now-famous analyst, Carl Jung. Toni Wolff
brings a new voice into this creative vortex that also
includes Jung’s wife, Emma. The three of them form an unconventional triangle where the women compete for the
role of Jung’s intellectual muse with more passion than they bring to bear on the issue of who shares his bed.
Who were these women to each other? Research gives
us clues but much is clouded in mystery. An image in a
film clip shows Emma and Toni as middle-aged women
standing on the porch, talking quietly as the smoke
from Toni’s cigarette wafts into the air. We know that
both were intellectual, independent, and self-educated at a time when Swiss women did not attend
university. They were arguably quite
hungry to meet other women with whom
they could share their ideas. They were
especially interested in the role of women
and society, the role of the feminine
element in the affairs of nations, and in the
new science of psychology.
Their relationship spanned forty years, from pre-World War I to the dawn of the Atomic Age. In Out of the Shadows, the playwright creates a world that evokes the tone, texture, and substance of the interplay between the women. They were intellectually isolated sisters uniquely positioned to contribute to the creation of Jungian theory, improbable allies in their struggle to define themselves as women in a society ruled by men. The play also explores the nature of Emma’s clandestine correspondence with Sigmund Freud, the separate relationship each woman had with C.G. Jung, and how this informed the women’s connection to each other.
The themes of this story are endemic to our modern world. They include the nature of power, the complexity of relationships, oppression, betrayal, corruption, and redemption. The production features psychoanalyst/actor Rikki Ricard as Emma Jung and Elizabeth Clark Stern, playwright/therapist/actor, as Toni Wolff. It is directed by therapist/artist/director, Shierry Nicholsen. Sound is operated by therapist, Donna Lee. The Project Sponsor/Artistic Consultant is Lee Roloff.
This year we offer public performances prior to the debut at the International Jungian Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, on August 15, 2007.
Funds from these performances will go toward travel expenses for cast and crew. Anyone who would like to contribute to the expense fund to Cape Town may do so by sending your tax deductible check made to “C.G. Jung Society, Seattle, Cape Town Fund.” Mail to C.G. Jung Society, Seattle, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N. Room 222, Seattle, Washington 98103. Inquiries: 206-720-1500 ext. 1.
Updated: 23 March, 2007
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