Fragments
A two-person psychological drama
My two-person play Fragments, a psychological drama loosely inspired by actual personalities, features an unlikely pair—an 80-year-old Viennese child psychologist (Sophie Zuchter), attached to her work and daily rituals, and a brash 33-year-old psychoanalyst (Mark Havens), restless and frustrated with his profession—who come together when the latter proposes to mount a retrospective exhibit documenting the old woman’s contributions to her chosen field and to the Clinic that has been the focus of her life for nearly two decades.
What ensues is an intergenerational dance—tentative at first, and then increasingly fraught—as they probe each other’s histories and identities, which are considerably more complicated and unstable than either of them is willing to admit. Against the backdrop of major transformations in the worlds of psychology and psychiatry in the early 1980s—when the Freudian analytical guild and its veneration of Sigmund Freud were coming under increasingly harsh scrutiny—Fragments is a timeless two-person play that explores the struggles involved in coming to terms—at any age—with one’s emotions and one’s past.
The play has had two public readings by respected Washington, D.C. actors: the first at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. on March 5, 2026, and the second at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD on November 6, 2026. In each reading, the role of Sophie was played by Catherine Flye, a veteran actor in the Washington theater community, with credit at the Shakespeare Theatre, Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, and 1st Stage. Most recently she starred in 1st Stage’s production of The Waverly Gallery and will subsequently have a large role in The Secret Garden at Signature Theatre. The role of Mark was played by Brett Earnest, a graduate of the Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy who recently appeared in Keegan Theatre’s production of Tracy Letts’ The Minutes. Both readings were directed by Leslie Jacobson, formerly head of the Theater and Dance Department at George Washington University.
