One of the great celebrities of late 19th century Paris was a fifteen year-old girl called Louise Augustine Gleizes. She had many devoted and distinguished followers who had no idea of her name. She was known simply as Augustine or, more frequently, A – incarcerated, probably against her will, as a ‘lunatic’. Her mentor, physician and manager was the ‘father of modern neurology’, Jean-Martin Charcot. Dr Charcot’s public demonstrations of neurosis at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital were a sensation and Augustine was his star attraction.
The studio photographs of Augustine in her hysterical poses have fascinated scientists and artists for more than one hundred years.
In Photographs of A, Antechamber Productions and Daniel Keene give poetic voice to a previously mute but extraordinarily influential figure in modern psychology.
Wrestling with the inordinate demands of Daniel Keene’s words, Brian Lipson’s design and direction and Augustine’s ambiguous insolence is the redoubtable Helen Morse.
Director & Designer
Brian Lipson
Writer
Daniel Keene
Cast
Helen Morse
with Ben Grant and Anouk Gleeson-Mead
Stage Manager
Meg Richardson
Producer
Samantha Potts