The Wrestling Patient

The Wrestling Patient

Season Bonus!

By Kirk Lynn in collaboration with Anne Gottlieb and Katie Pearl
Directed by Katie Pearl

March 27 - April 11, 2009

Run time: 2:30 including one 15-minute intermission

A World Premiere! This extraordinary new play is based on the true story of Dutch Jewish writer, Etty Hillesum. As WWII engulfs her native Amsterdam, Etty is confronted with a remarkable choice: to hold onto a kind of integrity, or to save her own life. With the help of a charismatic teacher, she enters into the emerging science of psychology and wrestles to answer the demons of her time by looking within herself. The Wrestling Patient brings to light Etty’s secret history of musical evenings, therapeutic wrestling matches, black-market strawberries, and midnight prayers. Her story is one of an amazing transformation during one of the darkest hours in history. You can learn more about The Wrestling Patient at www.wrestlingpatient.org.

Here's what the press has to say:

"The remarkable, complicated life of Etty Hillesum has inspired a remarkable and complicated play... [Anne Gottlieb gives] a luminous and beautifully transparent performance." -The Boston Globe

"I wondered if there could be a good reason for another Holocaust story, and then along came [The Wrestling Patient]... A powerful production and a profound tale... [that] packs an emotional wallop." -Broadwayworld.com

"A compelling piece of theater... A complex and even miraculous story." -The Boston Phoenix

"The play is a labor of intelligence, respect and love... and one more amazing testament to the survival of the human spirit." -Patriot Ledger

To learn more about Etty Hillesum and The Wrestling Patient, click here to watch a short video.

Updates from The Wrestling Patient (among other plays) are available at the New Play Blog.

The Wrestling Patient Named NEA Finalist

Note to SpeakEasy subscribers: The Wrestling Patient is not part of the regular SpeakEasy Season. To get your tickets to The Wrestling Patient, and enjoy a discount and priority seating, please call Subscription Manager Jim Torres at 617-482-3279.

SpeakEasy Press Contact:

Jim Torres
Director of Marketing,
Press and Public Relations

Phone: 617-482-3279
Cell: 617-529-1670
Fax: 617-482-3280

Email: use our Contact Us form

Basic Show Information

The Wrestling Patient
By Kirk Lynn in collaboration with Anne Gottlieb and Katie Pearl
Directed by Katie Pearl
March 27 - April 11, 2009

PDF Downloads

Hi-Resolution Images

Note to editors: The Wrestling Patient is being co-produced by SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, and FortyMagnolias Productions.

Anne Gottlieb as Etty Hillesum in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady. Anne Gottlieb and Will Lyman engage in a therapeutic wrestling match in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady.
Anne Gottlieb and Will Lyman in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady. Will Lyman and Anne Gottleib (foreground) engage in a bit of family therapy in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady.
Etty (Anne Gottleib) discusses joining the Jewish Council with her brother Jaap (Daniel Berger Jones) in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady. Daniel Berger-Jones and Anne Gottlieb in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady.
Anne Gottlieb and real-life brother Tom Gottlieb play siblings Etty and Mischa Hillesum in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady. Etty Hillesum (Anne Gottlieb) comforts her father Louis (Joel Colodner) in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady.
Will McGarrahan and Anne Gottlieb in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady. Will McGarrahan as The Wrecking Ball in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running now thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Photo: Stratton McCrady.