The Fever by Wallace Shawn follows a traveller who falls ill in a poor country, and plummets into a fever of self-examination. But something's been hidden from me, too. Something - a part of myself - has been hidden from me, and I think it's the part that's there on the surface, what anyone in the world could see about me if they saw out the window of a passing train. The incredible history of my feelings and my thoughts could fill up a dozen leather-bound books. But the story of my life - my behaviour, my actions - now that's a slim little paperback, and I've never read it. The Fever was first performed by the author in an apartment near Seventh Avenue in New York City in January 1990. It was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1991, and at the Ambassadors Theatre in 1997. The Fever was revived at the Royal Court Theatre in April 2009. "Shawn's monologue for a pampered liberal traveller struck down by vomiting fits in a war-torn small country...is articulated with searing honesty and a dry, elegant wittiness." - Independent "Potent, smart and unnerving." - Daily Telegraph "Mr Shawn exposes the contradictions and compromises of the urban liberal mind with a mercilessness that is sly and at times hilarious." - New York Times "A brilliant play." - Michael Coveney Wallace Shawn is most recognisable as an actor, from, among others, The Princess Bride , Clueless , Young Sheldon , Manhattan , and the voice of Rex in Toy Story . His first play Our Late Night was produced at the Public Theater, NYC, in 1975. Aunt Dan and Lemon (1985) was first performed at the Public Theater, then the Royal Court in London. The Fever (1990), a modern classic, was first performed by Shawn in his friends' apartments, then transferred to the Royal Court and the West End. The Designated Mourner (1997) was first performed at the National Theatre (starring Mike Nichols, directed by David Hare). With André Gregory, Shawn made the films My Dinner with André and Vanya on 42nd Street . He has won three Obie Awards.