Sabina
by Willy Holtzman

Sabina Spielrein was one of the pioneers of psychoanalysis—a profound influence on both Freud and Jung until her death at the hands of a Nazi death squad.

In the dawn of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud was always on the alert for new disciples, especially those who would expand acceptance of his controversial theories.

One early convert was the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, who had had some success with a young patient named Sabina Spielrein, with whom Jung may have had an affair but who certainly became intricately involved with both men.

The twisted tale of this triangle involving two titans of psychoanalysis, once so close and later so implacably estranged, and an obscure Russian woman, who pursued a career of her own as an analyst, was virtually unknown until a cache of documents was discovered in Geneva in 1977.

Area staging or unit set.

Approximate running time 2 hours with intermission.