Double Olivier Award winner Antony Sher takes on the role of Sigmund Freud in Terry Johnson’s self-directed play Hysteria.

Raising intriguing questions about Freud’s radical revision of his theories of hysteria, the play centres on the founder of psychoanalysis at the age of 82 after fleeing Nazi-occupied Austria and settling in Swiss Cottage, where he hopes to spend his final days in peace. But when Salvador Dali turns up and discovers a less than fully dressed woman in the closet, his hope of peace seems increasingly unlikely.

South African-born actor Sher, who received a Knighthood for his services to theatre in 2000, has enjoyed a hugely successful stage career spanning multiple decades. Most recently, he appeared on the London stage in the National Theatre’s productions of The Captain Of Köpenick and Travelling Light, and Broken Glass in the West End.

Johnson, who returns to the Hampstead theatre following his sell-out production of Old Money in 2012, has enjoyed continued success as both a director and playwright, winning two Olivier Awards for Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle And Dick and Hysteria, and a Tony Award for his production of La Cage Aux Folles.