The City for Incurable Women

An outrageous – and true – tale of medical misogyny, telling the story of patients performing ‘hysteria’ onstage in 19th century Paris. Ladies and Gentlemen — feeling a little upset? Tried hypnosis, psychoanalysis or smelling salts, and it still doesn’t work? Welcome to The City for Incurable Women. Paris, 1880s. Inside a grand psychiatric hospital, women diagnosed with “hysteria” are made to perform their symptoms for an eager public. Their bodies become evidence. Their suffering becomes spectacle. Today, in the 21st century, storyteller Kae begins to uncover this disturbing medical history. As they dig deeper, the past refuses to stay contained. The voices of the women echo into the present, settling in Kae’s own body and blurring the line between observer and subject. What begins as research becomes something more dangerous. The story tightens its grip, asking who gets believed, who g