The truth is out there. It’s just a matter of how we find it. For Sigmund Freud, dream analysis was key to a man’s journey to find truth, as many recall from his theories that men and women should talk through their dreams to unlock the troubles chasing them in the waking hours. But in Freud Meets Girl great-great-grandson David Freud, a college professor, works to build a machine that will do the same work. This machine, NORM, will be the perfect therapist, using algorithms instead of careful conversation to dig out our darkest secrets.

The results are staggering — and terrifying. Director Randy Baker works in perfect concert with a core cast of six to bring playwright Hunter Styles’ work to the stage. At the center of it all are David and graduate student Sophie, who seems to be the key to perfecting NORM. But as David fine tunes his machine, he imperils his own sanity, working constantly as his wife Becca is pushed farther outside the new reality he has created for himself. Overwhelmed by his ambition, and asked to choose between finding another man’s truth and seeing his own, he keeps his blinders on until NORM herself is finally too dangerous to ignore. Thoughtful and deliberate up to its unexpected end, Freud is a gem in hiding at The Clinic’s small stage.

Unraveling a man’s inner truths is never an easy task, and as we often see depicted (in foolish, cliched fashion), the person pulling back the curtain usually gets a good look at himself as well — whether he’s prepared or not. But this is a balancing act, and its remarkable cast helps keep Freud Meets Girl cliche-free.

Freud Meets Girl has additional showings July 22 and 23 at The Clinic. Check the Capital Fringe website for showtimes and tickets.