- A short film that follows Strike, a war veteran struggling with personal demons, as he undergoes psychotherapy. Once we've observed Strike's family, however, we might be persuaded to discount the relative importance of war in triggering his condition.—Howard Lawrence
- In Hypnosis For Theatre a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, Strike, pursues a course of psychotherapy with the eccentric (but normally effective) Dr. Zarin. At present, Strike suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. How did he become afflicted with this condition? An outsider might be tempted to blame his fragile state of mind entirely on his overseas military misadventures. However, while Strike is no doubt a battle-scarred veteran of war, he is also the central character in a highly dysfunctional family.
Hypnosis For Theatre is a musical satire that pokes fun not at a serious mental condition but at modern psychiatry. It also challenges the notion that our understanding of how a psychiatric condition develops is often too simplistic (e.g., PTSD is caused by battlefield experience). In Strike's case it becomes clear that his mental health problems can be traced further back to his prewar suburban life. He never stood a chance.
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