The Escapologist

Everybody feels trapped sometimes - by family, by friends, by situations we can’t control. But who can we look to, to help us really escape?

Inspired by Adam Phillips’ book ‘Houdini’s Box’, The Escapologist follows a psychotherapist as he delves into the conscious and unconscious desires of his patients. All of his patients are looking to escape in some way from their circumstances. But how can the therapist help them when he feels increasingly sceptical about the powers of his profession? As his feelings of entrapment increase, he takes flight into fantasies about the greatest escape artist of them all, Harry Houdini.

The Escapologist premiered at the Tramway Theatre in Glasgow in January 2006, featuring exciting re-enactments of Houdini’s stunts in a production by Suspect Culture.