Did You Used to Be R.D. Laing?

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R.D. Laing was an international celebrity in the late 1960s. His books questioning orthodox psychiatric practices sold in the millions, and the experimental "safe house" clinics he founded and inspired (in which patients could "journey" through their mental illnesses undisturbed by intrusive treatments) were lightning rods for effusive acclaim and scorn. Laing eventually became a guru to innumerable self-indulgent and self-congratulatory followers who distorted his ideas by calling the mad insane and the insane mad, and he did little to repair his image with his frequent drinking binges and flagrant thirst for publicity. Mike Maran, the Scottish actor who wrote, directed and stars in this 90-minute show, explores Laing's life and work from the perspective of an unnamed genial admirer who says he has just come from Laing's funeral in 1989. A balding, portly actor sporting a bright red jacket and a wispy beard, Mr. Maran pours himself generous glasses of whiskey while telling stories about "Ronnie" dating to his lonely childhood and skeptical years in medical school.