The Fever Syndrome
Dr Richard Myers, the great IVF innovator, is virtually a secular saint because of the thousands of babies he has created throughout his career. Now, his family gather to see him receive a lifetime achievement award.
This fractious group are more accustomed to debate than empathy, so it’s not long before the family home in the Upper West Side of Manhattan is once again alive with dispute: conflicting Thanksgiving memories, polarised opinions on investment banking, and how best to care for their ailing father. And crucially, who will inherit Richard’s wealth and Richard’s prestigious science institution?
Alexis Zegerman’s vivid, new play directed by Roxana Silbert is a thrilling portrait of a brilliantly dysfunctional family.
Alexis Zegerman was Pearson Writer-in-Residence at Hampstead in 2007, where her play Lucky Seven premiered in 2008. A Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist for The Steingolds (2011), her other plays include I Ran The World (2003), Killing Brando (2004) and Holy Sh!t (2018). Zegerman also wrote the screenplay for The Honeymoon Suite.
Hampstead’s Artistic Director Roxana Silbert directs her third Main Stage production, following The Haystack (2020) and ‘night, Mother (2021). Downstairs, she has recently directed Raya and Folk.