NEWS
The Psychiatrist opens next week at the White Bear Theatre, Kennington
05 April 2025
The Psychiatrist, a play by psychiatrist and physician Julian Bird based on his experience in practice, opens next week at The White Bear Theatre in Kennington, where it receives its UK premiere from Tuesday 8 – Saturday 26 April 2025.
After working as a psychiatrist and physician for 40 years, Julian Bird started acting in his sixties. The Psychiatrist is based on real events and portrays a psychiatrist’s struggle with poor resources, whilst trying to achieve a better life for his patients. Troubling events and losses in the psychiatrist’s personal life lead him to seek help from a psychotherapist while he continues his work. In alternating scenes, he is shown as a patient and as a therapist.
In The Psychiatrist, Bird plays Dr Andrew Faulkner – an ageing consultant psychiatrist who provides general psychiatry for his district. Stephaine Okoye plays both other roles – Alex Dickens, a distressed and disturbed woman in her twenties, and Dr Zarah Templeton, a middle-aged consultant psychiatrist who specialises in psycho-dynamic therapy.
The Psychiatrist is directed by Kenneth Michaels, returning to the White Bear after directing The Dedication in October 2024, and produced by Alistair Brown.
Press performance: Thursday 10 April at 7.45pm
Post-show Q&A on Thursday 10 April
After working as a psychiatrist and physician for 40 years, Julian Bird started acting in his sixties. The Psychiatrist is based on real events and portrays a psychiatrist’s struggle with poor resources, whilst trying to achieve a better life for his patients. Troubling events and losses in the psychiatrist’s personal life lead him to seek help from a psychotherapist while he continues his work. In alternating scenes, he is shown as a patient and as a therapist.
In The Psychiatrist, Bird plays Dr Andrew Faulkner – an ageing consultant psychiatrist who provides general psychiatry for his district. Stephaine Okoye plays both other roles – Alex Dickens, a distressed and disturbed woman in her twenties, and Dr Zarah Templeton, a middle-aged consultant psychiatrist who specialises in psycho-dynamic therapy.
The Psychiatrist is directed by Kenneth Michaels, returning to the White Bear after directing The Dedication in October 2024, and produced by Alistair Brown.
Press performance: Thursday 10 April at 7.45pm
Post-show Q&A on Thursday 10 April
