Dalliance in Vienna

Dalliance in Vienna is an elegant, deceptively old-fashioned play with a modern twist. Set in Vienna in 1901, at the time Sigmund Freud was practicing there, Dalliance in Vienna attempts to answer the question which men everywhere – and Freud in particular – have always pondered: “What do women want?” The play tells the story of three young captains in the Imperial Austrian Army, on leave in Vienna, and staying at the Viennese home of a fellow officer, Captain Johann von Bommel. When the three captains discover that they are each highly attracted to Captain von Bommel’s beautiful wife, Kristina, they make a bet to see who can seduce her first, with each man betting on the strategy he feels succeeds most with women: romance, honesty, or deliberate ill-treatment. The situation is complicated when the fairly innocent Kristina – confused by all the sudden male attention – seeks help from that new doctor in town that everyone is talking about, Sigmund Freud, an offstage character. Her plight ultimately inspires Freud to write his famous essay, “What do women want?”, and the results of the captains’ stay in Vienna are both comic and surprising.

Dalliance in Vienna is presented by the Genesius Guild.