Sigmund Freud--the Stuff of Theater

Sigmund Freud, a funny guy?

Sigmund Freud, sexually confused?

Sigmund Freud, the stuff of theater?

Exactly so, says actor Harold Gould, who portrays the founder of psychoanalysis in a one-man show coming to the University of Judaism this weekend.

“He was a fascinating person,” Gould said. “The play reveals something about his frustrations, his ambitions, the process he discovered and the resistance he encountered, particularly on the sexual theories. The Oedipus idea--the sexual overtones and love-hate relationship that children have with their parents--was very much resisted by society and his colleagues. Some people viewed him as a kind of pornographer.”

Gould is a four-time Emmy nominee who played Valerie Harper’s father on TV’s “Rhoda.” He has performed “Freud” intermittently in the past two years, taking it to Canada, the East Coast, the Midwest and, locally, Pepperdine University and Occidental College. The show was written by Lynn Roth, an established screenwriter who was an associate producer on the “Paper Chase” TV series.

Although many of Gould’s performances as Freud have been at colleges, he believes the show’s appeal transcends academic and historical interests.

“It’s more the man than his theories,” Gould said. “Freud had a tremendous sense of humor. He would tell anecdotes to get his points across. He could be very charming, but he was very insistent in what he believed and what he discovered. He developed a network of followers that was almost militaristic, and he insisted on them hewing the line.”

In the show, Freud converses with several people central to his life. One of them is Wilhelm Fliess, a friend and one of the few who supported Freud when he began advancing his theories around the turn of the century.

“We go into that relationship, which had overtones of homosexuality,” Gould said. “That troubled Freud and he looked at it carefully. He was very unsparing with himself.”

Another crucial figure who crops up is Carl Jung.

“We center on Jung, who Freud thought would be the inheritor and carrier-on of his theory,” Gould said. “But of course they diverged and they broke up very bitterly. Freud had terrible disappointments in his friends and colleagues.”

Gould said playing Freud has been a high point in his career, comparable to his Emmy-nominated role as the romantic lead opposite Katharine Hepburn in the TV movie “Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry.” Although he makes it a point to perform in at least one play a year, Gould said “Freud” has a special significance.

“He laid out so much of our awareness of ourselves, so many of the roots of our behavior,” the actor said. “Playing him is a chance to do something creative.”

“Freud,” starring Harold Gould; 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; University of Judaism; 15600 Mulholland Drive, West Los Angeles; tickets $18 and $12.50; reservations (213) 476-9777 Ext. 203.