Beyond Therapy is a farce that explores society's obsession with therapy as a surefire, quick-fix solution to all of our quirks and baggage. We watch as Prudence, a relatively normal girl, meets Bruce, a relatively insane crackpot. The play opens with their blind date, which was arranged through a personal ad. Before the date is out, Bruce has complimented Prudence's breasts, informed her that he has a male lover, and that he wants her to bear his children. Both Bruce and Prudence are trying to get their lives in order through therapy sessions. Unfortunately, their psychiatrists are considerably crazier than they are, and the psychoanalysis tends to cause more problems than it solves. The insanity snowballs from there, and is guaranteed to have you rolling in the aisles.
Bruce (Shawn DeSouza-Coelho)
Male, 30 - 34 years old, fairly pleasant-looking.
Bruce is a very confused man. It's not clear whether he's actually
bisexual or just attention-starved - or a little bit of both. He tries
to be open and honest with his feelings: in practise, this leads to
manic swings between public crying fits and whoops of excitement. After
his marriage failed, he dove headlong into a committed relationship
with a man named Bob. It was probably at this point that he started
seeking therapy, likely as another cry for attention. Rather than
helping him sort out his conflicting emotions and helping him to become
a functioning member of society, his therapist Charlotte indulges and
encourages his every outrageous whim - and sometimes suggests even
crazier things. The justification she provides for his outrageous
behaviour have taken his activities to a whole new level: He is now
actively sabotaging his relationship with Bob by taking out personal
ads in order to meet women.
Prudence (Karla Cassidy)
Female, 29 - 32 years old, attractive but not a hottie
Prudence is by far the most normal character in the play. She has
self-confidence issues, however, and has great difficulty saying no.
Conflict scares her, and she will avoid it even if it means putting
herself in incredibly awkward situations. She is also a bit of a
perfectionist and has a fear of commitment: she broke it off with a
serious boyfriend because he was slightly allergic to her cats. She
began going to therapy to address these issues, but her therapist
Stuart ended up seducing her, not helping her at all, and she would
stop therapy with him immediately if she could just say "no". Prudence
represents the average person's quest for happiness in a world that can
sometimes seem crazy. The difference is that in Prudence's world,
everyone else IS crazy.
Dr. Stuart Framingham (Brooks Turton)
Male, early 30s, very macho-looking
Stuart is all those middle school bullies who beat up on the smaller
kids because deep down they weren't happy with the person they were.
Except in Stuart's case, he's the horribly unethical therapist who
emotionally beats up his female patients because he has a serious
problem with premature ejaculation. Bigoted and manipulative, he has a
huge mean streak that he takes out on anyone he can. Everything he does
is geared towards being as macho as possible, by means of
overcompensation for his small, prematurely-excited genitalia.
Dr. Charlotte Wallace (Melanie Roskell)
Female, early 30s, reasonably attractive but always dishevelled-looking
Two words sum up Charlotte: Nut Job. She personifies stuffed animals,
often taking their roles herself, and has some form of speech disorder
that causes her to call her secretary a dirigible, among many other
non-sequitors. She seems to have a blood-sugar linked version of
Touret's. She is completely driven by whatever emotion she is feeling
at the moment, and shows very little self-restraint.
Bob (Jonathon Eubank)
Male, late 30s, slightly metrosexual
Bob is a dignified gay man who is interested in a stable, long-term
relationship. He is extremely frustrated by Bruce's behaviour, and the
only thing stopping him from walking out is the hope that it's all just
a phase. He feels understandably threatened by Prudence, though he
doesn't necessarily dislike her.
Andrew the Waiter (Nigel Camps)
Male, Late teens, Early 20s, punk-looking.
In and out of juvy throughout his adolescence, Andrew is that kid who
always hung out in the forest at lunch, lighting fires and dousing them
with siphoned gasoline.