Donald Freed, renowned author of the political theatre, continues to forge his reputation with another provocative work, Patient No.1. The Patient is none other than G.W. Bush, several years removed into the future.

Freed’s works often explore the machinations of personal drives and passions that affect the course of political activity shaping our history. Patient No.1 is no exception, offering a beguiling look into the suspenseful aftermath of a botched election, one that still defines our global reality.

The play is sparse, taut. A psychiatrist waits in a private clinic for the arrival of his most famous, but frightfully confidential, patient. Lingering over his notes, nervously making calls, the ocean echoing behind the solitary sound of his activities, he ponders the situation before him.

Enter the Patient. His body tense, awkward, an apparition of Kafka-esque power, his face a mask of despair. He moves hesitantly, fearfully, blunders about the stage, confused, disconnected. The psychiatrist must identify, and treat the neurosis.

Tensions and frustrations intensify as the doctor struggles to create a rapport with his comatose patient. But the most startling revelations unfold as the psychiatrist practices his art upon his patient, with quite unexpected results, and moves toward the truth of the once impossible outcome, and the shattering consequences for himself.

In the Leeds production, Jon Farris delivers an intense, driven performance as the doctor whose professional acumen leads him to discover a truth far beyond what he is prepared to realize. Freed’s demanding contrasts as Patient No.1 are powerfully portrayed by the director/actor, from catatonia to explosion to an extraordinary musical sequence with the central characters. Such is his power that the vulnerability of his character weighs surprisingly heavy upon the collective consciousness of the audience. Ben Sainsbury is also effective as the monosyllabic Secret Service agent, well-intentioned but pre-selected to be incapable of grasping the reality that unfolds.