IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY THEATRE By Sarah Ruhl | Lisa Gaye Dixon, director Thursday-Saturday, October 26-28, 2017, at 7:30pm Tuesday-Saturday, October 31-November 4, 2017, at 7:30pm Sunday, November 5, 2017, at 3pm Studio Theatre labs for our students, who use them to prepare as professional theatre artists. Our first two,All the King’s Men and Travesties, are perhaps the most educational. They are both about historical moments of resistance to the political status quo as well as the limits of that resistance.

Of all the revolutions, I think the sexual revolution might be the best. Sarah Ruhl’s funny, feminist In the Next Room, or the vibrator play takes the invention of the vibrator as a starting point for the revolution in how women conceived of their sexuality, RESISTANCE maternity, relationships, and labor. Barbecue is also revolutionary, though in a REVOLUTION more Brechtian sense. It demands we rethink what we “know” and then act on our new RESURGENCE knowledge. I’ve been making, studying, and teaching We also transport audiences to a better theatre for most of the last 40 years. And world. Twelfth Night invites us to imagine I’m often asked about the role of theatre. a kingdom of filial and romantic love Is it meant to entertain and educate, as (sometimes thwarted) and offers wonder Roman philosopher Horace wrote in the Ars and joy. My hope is always resurgent after Poetica? Or do we follow the Sanskrit Nātya seeing Shakespeare. Śāstra, which suggests that the primary goal of theatre is to transport the audience to a Of course, we entertain. Assassins, Steven parallel reality of wonder and joy? And what Sondheim’s history of the men and women about Brecht, who wanted to create a 20th- who’ve failed and succeeded in killing a century theatre that spurred its audience president, is a darkly comic but always to action? For me, the best theatre—the exuberant song-and-dance extravaganza. theatre we offer this season—does all three. I am thrilled to be part of a department We are obviously a theatre that educates. determined to make relevant, revolutionary Our productions are basic texts for theatre. Thank you for being with us as well. students in a variety of courses, including Dr. Kirsten Pullen the thousands in THEA101: Introduction to Head, Department of Theatre Theatre Arts. Productions are also research

2 3 PROGRAM IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY ILLINOIS THEATRE By Sarah Ruhl Lisa Gaye Dixon, director

Thursday-Saturday, October 26-28, 2017, at 7:30pm Tuesday-Saturday, October 31-November 4, 2017, at 7:30pm Sunday, November 5, 2017, at 3pm Studio Theatre

Original Broadway Production by Theater New York City, 2009 In the Next Room, or the vibrator play was originally commissioned and produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, CA Tony Taccone, Artistic Director / Susan Medak, Managing Director In the Next Room, or the vibrator play was developed at New Dramatists 4 IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY Sarah Ruhl

DIRECTOR Lisa Gaye Dixon

SCENIC DESIGNER Yue Shi

COSTUME DESIGNER Nicole Zausmer

LIGHTING DESIGNER Michael Cummings

SOUND DESIGNER Brandon Reed

PROPERTIES MASTER Kira Lyon

HAIR/MAKEUP COORDINATOR Samantha C. Jones

VOCAL COACH Sigrid Sutter

STAGE MANAGER Lavine Leyu Luo

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Bobby Reynolds

DRAMATURG Lindsay Rose Russell

5 CAST DR. GIVINGS Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Jordan Coughtry* Stage Managers in the .

CATHERINE GIVINGS Ellen Magee

SABRINA DALDRY Elana Weiner-Kaplow

ANNIE Jacklyn Ovassapian

LEO IRVING Ryan Luzzo

ELIZABETH Maya Prentiss

MR. DALDRY Nick Lannan

*Appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity

6 SCENIC BREAKDOWN TIME: The dawn of the age of electricity; and after the Civil War; circa 1880s

PLACE: A prosperous spa town outside of New York City, perhaps Saratoga Springs

ACT I

20-minute intermission

ACT II

This production contains adult language, adult content, nudity, and is intended for mature audiences only.

In the Next Room, or the vibrator play is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

7 DRAMATURG’S NOTE In the Next Room is a tale of technology. In the 1880s, the richness to be found in a life Set in 1888, it offers an intimate portrait of of science was broadly accessible, even to a professional tool: the vibrator. Electrical housewives. Clubs and societies supported the apparatuses designed for sexual stimulation were professional and amateur interests of affluent a cutting-edge medical technology then, though men, but women and working-class citizens read they addressed an age-old problem: unhappy about Edison and attended scientific lectures and women. Doctors as far back as Hippocrates exhibitions. In the Next Room physically stages a (ca. 400 BCE) had struggled to cure women moment when boundaries—between science and of what they called hysteria, a strange set of sentiment, professional and domestic, masculine symptoms that included (but was by no means and feminine—had yet to be built and were limited to) anemia, muscle spasms, insomnia, crowded into a single space. anorexia, frigidity, licentiousness, nervousness, weariness, ticklishness, and troublesomeness. By In the hands of benevolent male physicians, the the Victorian period, as many as three-quarters vibrator did not turn out to be the solution to all of the female population were thought to suffer female maladies. But its history, as told here in from hysteria. But that alarming statistic indicates Sarah Ruhl’s play, is an important reminder that what is now largely accepted in and beyond the fundamental forms of energy—like electricity medical profession: hysterical symptoms weren’t or sexuality or personality—require expression. symptoms at all; they were the normal functioning They must move, connect, interact. In a storm, of female sexuality, or, in many cases, the normal lightning seeks ground to restore imbalance response to suppressed or unsatisfied female between earth and sky; in humans, desire seeks a sexuality. Every orgasm in In the Next Room sort of balance also. marks a dozen or more desires suppressed and —Lindsay Russell, assistant professor, unsatisfied. And not simply for sexual gratification Department of English but for education, independence, intellectual stimulation, mutual respect, suffrage, equal pay, or any number of freedoms denied women (and differently gendered artists) over the ages.

8 PROFILES Jordan Coughtry (Dr. Givings) Assumption of Mary, Michael Doyle in Listen, is in the MFA acting program ”FAP-App” Developer in Moonside Manners, and at the University of Illinois. His at Parkland’s Second Stage Theatre as The Mute acting credits include Iago’s in The Fantasticks. Nick is in his senior year as an Plot, Mr. Burns, a post-electric acting major at the University of Illinois, after play, and John Steinbeck’s The spending six years in the United States Marine Grapes of Wrath (Illinois Corps. Outside of stage work, Nick is featured in a Theatre); Very Very (J, J & Z); few local commercials and works on independent Murder in the Cathedral (Hoi films within the Champaign-Urbana community. Polloi); Be Story Free (InVerse Theatre); Winter Ryan Luzzo (Leo Irving) is a Journey (P.S. 122); Godspell (Olney Theatre senior in the BFA acting Center); Twelfth Night (Westport Country program at the University of Playhouse); Red (TheatreWorks); Emma (Pioneer Illinois. While in pursuit of his Theatre); Candida (Two River Theatre); degree, Ryan has performed Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline, A Midsummer in Illinois Theatre mainstage Night’s Dream, Failure: A Love Story, Macbeth, plays, independent movies, and The Comedy of Errors (Illinois Shakespeare experimental student work, Festival); All’s Well that Ends Well (Alabama and dance. As a James Shakespeare Festival); Love’s Labour’s Lost (The Scholar, Ryan has participated in cross- Shakespeare Theatre/RSC); Amadeus, Our Town, departmental experiences, notably his theatrical Wittenberg, and Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare adaptation of St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Theatre of NJ); Hamlet, Richard III, and composer Wolves—a finalist at the Undergraduate Research of original songs for The Two Gentlemen of Symposium and the IPRH Bio Humanities Verona, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night’s Symposium. Most recently, Ryan participated in Dream (Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre). Inlet Dance Theatre’s Summer Intensive in Nick Lannan (Mr. Daldry) has Cleveland, Ohio, and starred in a corner for appeared at Krannert Center august, a short film produced by Protagonist for the Performing Arts in Pizza Productions (PPP). This year, Ryan can be Failure: A Love Story (Chorus/ seen in Young Dems (PPP’s latest web series) and Pal/Front Door); Mr. Burns, a in a work by Kemal Nance in February Dance with post-electric play (Matt); and Dance at Illinois. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (First Agricultural Officer/Deputy Sheriff). He has also performed at the Armory Free Theatre and the Illini Ballroom in roles as Deputy Figgle in Midsummer’s Nightmare, Third Shepherd in The Second Shepherd’s Play, Priceps 3 in The

9 Ellen Magee (Catherine to Akure, Nigeria. Some of her past productions Givings) hails from Ann Arbor, include An Octoroon (Victory Gardens Biograph Michigan, and is a senior Theatre); Romeo and Juliet; Dontrell, Who Kissed pursuing a BFA in acting at the the Sea; and In the Blood (Illinois Theatre); King University of Illinois. She Henry V; Real Women Have Curves; Crowns; and appeared most recently in Shakespeare in the Park. Illinois Theatre’s productions Elana Weiner-Kaplow of Failure: A Love Story (Gerty) (Sabrina Daldry) is a senior and Mr. Burns, a post-electric pursuing her BFA in acting at play (Jenny). Other credits include Illinois the University of Illinois. Her Theatre’s productions of Kingdom City (Katie) and previous productions at 1984 (Kid/Prole Woman), the Lyric Theatre @ Krannert Center include Iago’s Illinois production of Kiss Me, Kate (Gangster #2), (Desdemona) and and the Celebration Company at the Station Plot Mr. Burns, a post-electric play Theatre’s production of Appropriate (Cassidy). (Susannah/Lisa/Itchy). She has This past summer, she helped create new work also appeared in (Kristin/Billsticker), with the Theatremakers 2017 at the National A Dream Play a staged reading of , and Student Theatre Institute. Middletown Outreach Theatre. She has also Jacklyn Ovassapian (Annie) is performed in a number of Armory Free Theatre a sophomore in the BFA acting productions including Ludus de Antichristo program at the University of (Synagoga), Sisephus Happy, The Wild Party, and Illinois. Jacklyn has appeared Assassins (Emma Goldman). in Spring Awakening (Ilse), as (Director) has well as student presentations Lisa Gaye Dixon worked professionally across of Things We Want (Stella) and the country and around the Circle Mirror Transformation globe. She began her (Theresa). She also recently professional career with the served as an intern at Citadel Theatre in Lake Steppenwolf Theatre Forest, Illinois. This will be Jacklyn’s debut Company of Chicago in a performance at Krannert Center. revival of For Colored Girls Maya Prentiss (Elizabeth) is a Who Have Considered Suicide third-year MFA acting When The Rainbow is Enuf, and has performed on candidate from Richmond, the stages of the Royal Shakespeare Company Virginia. She recently and the New Globe Theatre in London, and graduated from Spelman regionally in the United States at the Attic College where she received a Theatre (Detroit, Michigan), Performance BA in drama. Maya has an Network (Ann Arbor, Michigan), Lost Nation extensive background in Theatre (Vermont), The Kitchen Theatre (Ithaca, spoken word poetry and New York), GEVA Center (Rochester, New York), mentoring, which have taken her around the the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and Milwaukee world—from the Apollo Theatre in New York City Shakespeare. In October 2015, she premiered her 10 one-woman show (which she co-wrote and Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (ASM); Kiss Me, performed) entitled My Case Is Altered: Tales of a Kate (ASM); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (ASM); 21st Century Roaring Girl at Willamette University Henry V (Stage Manager); and The Other Shore in Salem, Oregon. (Production Assistant).

This fall, she will reprise her role as The Ghost Kira Lyon (Prop Master) is a second-year MFA of Christmas Present in the 40th anniversary graduate student studying properties design production of The ’s A and management. She is a native of Hattiesburg, Christmas Carol in Chicago. Mississippi, and received her BFA in theatre performance from the University of Southern Film credits include The Trouble with Men and Mississippi. Last spring she debuted her work Women (BBC/IFC), Leading Ladies, and USING. at the University of Illinois as the Properties At the University of Illinois, Lisa has directed Master for Failure: A Love Story. Before attending several popular productions for Illinois Theatre— school, Kira worked as a freelance designer in all dealing with a range of social, cultural, and Chicago. Some of her credits include Byhalia, Ms political issues—that address and reveal the with Definition Theatre Company, New Colony, common threads of humanity, and the universality and Steppenwolf, and Passing Strange with of experiences across racial, cultural, class, University of Illinois at Chicago. Her most recent economic, gender, and sexual lines. professional position was Properties Master for Michael Cummings (Lighting Designer) is a the 2017 summer season with Virginia Heritage second-year graduate student at the University of Theatre Company. Illinois. He is pursuing an MFA in lighting design Christina Rainwater (Scenic Charge Artist) is a and holds a BA in psychology. Previous work at member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and the University of Illinois includes Studiodance I has been a professional scenic artist for 16 years. (Lighting Designer) and Mr. Burns, a post-electric She received a BFA in theatre from Missouri play (Assistant Lighting Designer) as well as an State University and an MFA in scenic art from ongoing assistantship at Krannert Center. University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Lavine Leyu Luo (Stage Manager) is a senior There, she developed the workshop ”A Distress- international student in the stage management ing Subject” on distressing techniques for program at the University of Illinois. Before she scenery, properties, and costumes. She was the transferred to theatre, Lavine received Associate Scenic Charge Artist at the Flat Rock Playhouse in of Arts and Associate of Business degrees from Flat Rock, North Carolina, for two years. She has Pierce College in Washington State. Lavine has an ongoing working relationship at Goodspeed worked for professional touring productions such Musicals, where she had the pleasure of working as Samajam South China Tour (Production Touring on the musicals Camelot, Carnival, Carousel, Hello Manager), 42nd Street National Tour (Assistant Dolly!, and La Cage aux Folles. She also worked Stage Manager/ASM), How the Grinch Stole for Feld Entertainment in Palmetto, Florida, Christmas National Tour (ASM), and Guangzhou including Disney’s Princesses on Ice and Disney’s Grand Opera (China) as a tech interpreter for Playhouse Tour II. This summer she worked for six international touring productions including Sister weeks at The Muny, St. Louis, as a journeyman Act, Wicked, Shrek, Swan Lake on Ice, and My scenic artist. Fair Lady. Her other credits at the U of I include 11 Brandon Reed (Sound Designer) is a second-year Yue Shi (Scenic Designer) is originally from China MFA student in sound design and technology. and moved to the United States for graduate Previous credits at the University of Illinois school. She received her BA from the National include sound design for The Light in the Piazza, Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. She is an Poppea, St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by artist, scenic designer, painter, illustrator, and Wolves, and sound engineer for Failure: A also involves film areas and TV programs. She Love Story. Regional credits include Arkansas is currently in her third and final year at the Shakespeare Theatre (Love’s Labour’s Lost, University of Illinois. Her past scenic design Julius Caesar, The Music Man, Taming of the experiences include Waiting for Godot (NACTA Shrew), Bristol Valley Theatre (Silent Sky, Elijah), Theatre), and Poppea (Illinois Theatre). and Chautauqua Theater Company (Our Town, Afterlove, Engine of Our Ruin). Chicago credits Sigrid Sutter (Voice and Speech Director) has include Congo Square (2016 Jeff Nomination travelled abroad and across the United States for A Small Oak Tree Runs Red), The Hypocrites for her work and studies. In Chicago, she worked (Adding Machine: A Musical), Teatro Vista (In with A Red Orchid Theatre, Steep, Jackalope, The Time of the Butterflies), About Face Theatre Northlight, Back Room Shakespeare Project, (Brave Like Them, Ad Hoc Home), Bluebird Arts and many others. Her voice and dialect coaching (Three Hotels, Hello and Goodbye), and many credits include a dozen productions for The more. He is an alumni of the Steppenwolf Theatre Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, including the Company apprenticeship program. He received world premiere of The Invisible Hand by Ayad his bachelor’s degree from Ball State University. Ahktar, Sense and Sensibility adapted and directed by Jon Jory, and Pulitzer Prize-winning Bobby Reynolds (Technical Director) is a second- Clybourne Park. Her film credits includeColma: year MFA candidate in the scenic technology The Musical and Strange Culture, and her program. He hails from the flat lands of Ohio television credits include Chicago Justice and where he received his BA at Wittenberg Ellen. She has taught courses and workshops University. Prior to his arrival at the University of in acting Shakespeare, voice and speech, and Illinois, he worked at Playhouse on the Square movement at The Guthrie Theatre, The Theatre for productions such as Mary Poppins; Memphis; School at DePaul University, The Conservatory American Idiot; and Kiss Me, Kate. Bobby also at Webster University, The University of Chicago, recently served as a trusty carpenter for the Washington University, Gustavus Adolphus Heritage Festival at the University of Virginia. College, and other top institutions. She is a certified teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework and Lindsay Rose Russell (Dramaturg) is an Assistant Pilates. Ms. Sutter trained at The Shakespeare Professor of English and writing studies at the Theatre Company/George Washington University, University of Illinois. A feminist historian of the earning an MFA in classical acting. English language, Russell specializes in the role of women and gender in the history of dictionary making. She also teaches classes on rhetoric, profanity, and queer theory.

12 Nicole Zausmer (Costume Designer) is a third- year MFA costume design student at the University of Illinois who received her BA from Indiana University in 2012. Recent designs include Failure: A Love Story (Illinois Theatre), Mr. Burns, a post- electric play (Illinois Theatre), Man of La Mancha (Bigfork Summer Playhouse), Boeing-Boeing (Town Hall Arts Center), and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (Oklahoma City Theatre Company).

13 PRODUCTION STAFF ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR AUDIO ENGINEER Caylei Hallberg Luke Parker

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER DECK RUNNING CREW Colleen Accardo Ashton Goodly Illana Weiner ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Grace Chariya PROP RUNNING CREW Kara Hynes ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER Brienna Taylor Larissa Almanza COSTUME RUNNING CREW HEAD ASSISTANT SOUND DESIGNER Larissa Almanza Miykael Hutchins COSTUME RUNNING CREW ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER Olivia Harmon Stephen Moderhock Bennett Kosma Kayla Lee HAIR/MAKEUP ASSISTANT Sharne Van Ryneveld MAKEUP TECHNICIAN Jessica Hensley COSTUME TECHNICIAN Caitylin Leyden Miriam Jurgensen Caitlin Leyden MAKEUP RUNNING CREW Blas Nache SCENIC CHARGE Tonatiu Ruiz-Escobedo Christina Rainwater LIGHT BOARD OPERATOR MASTER ELECTRICIAN Shelby Dorsey Konrad Ciolkosz

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