This is one of my favorite Sarah Ruhl plays, and I had the unique privilege—and challenge—of serving as both a lead actress and the charge scenic artist for this production.

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Set in Saratoga Springs in the late 1880s, In the Next Room,or the vibrator play explores intimacy, repression, and the dawn of electricity—based on the strange but true history of doctors using vibrators to treat “hysteria” in women (and occasionally men).

 

I especially loved crafting the impressionist birch tree mural and designing the intricate stencil work on the operating room floor—balancing historical detail with theatrical mood to support the story’s emotional charge.

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Produced by The Open Fist Theatre Company (SPRING 2022)

Written by Sarah Ruhl

Directed by Lane Allison

Set Design by Jan Munroe

Light Design by Sarah Schwartz

Professional Photography by Frank Ishman

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WIP Photos captured by me with my iPhone