In The Next Room Closes The Rep’s 2010-11 Studio Theatre Series

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) concludes its 2010-2011 Studio Theatre series with the remarkable and clever In The Next Room or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl. This scintillating production will be performed in the Emerson Studio Theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, March 9-27, 2011.

Curtain times are Tuesday at 7 pm; Wednesday-Friday at 8 pm; Saturday evenings at 5 pm; selected Saturday nights at 9 pm; Sunday matinees at 2 pm and Sunday evenings at 7 pm.

Tickets are now available for purchase. Ticket prices are $36 (previews), $44 (weeknights, Saturdays at 9 p.m. and Sundays) and $56 (Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 5 p.m.). To purchase, visit The Rep Box Office, located inside the Loretto-Hilton Center, charge by phone by calling (314) 968-4925, or visit The Rep's Online Box Office at http://www.repstl.org.

At the dawn of the age of electricity, Dr. Givings has found a remarkable new invention for what at the time was called "hysteria." As his young wife listens in the next room, the doctor treats his patients to a brand new experience, stimulating thoughts and feelings long dormant in stifled Victorian society and his own marriage. Fascinatingly funny and elegantly evocative, Sarah Ruhl immerses us in an exploration of traditional values and secret desires. Based on historical fact, In The Next Room or the vibrator play is a playful and symbolic representation of the treatment of women in the 19th century.

In The Next Room or the vibrator play premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2009 and later opened on Broadway the same year under the direction of Les Waters. In The Next Room or the vibrator play garnered a 2010 Tony Award nomination for Best Play and was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The cast of In The Next Room or the vibrator play is Ron Bohmer as Dr. Givings (last seen in Bee-luther-hatchee), Emily Dorsch as Sabrina Daldry, Amy Landon as Annie (last seen in Crime and Punishment), Krystel Lucas as Elizabeth, Annie Purcell as Catherine, Michael James Reed as Mr. Daldry (last seen in Macbeth) and David Christopher Wells as Leo (last seen in Frost/Nixon).

The Rep's production of In The Next Room or the vibrator play is directed by Stuart Carden, who previously directed the incredibly popular The Lieutenant of Inishmore and last year's Studio Theatre favorite Crime and Punishment.

The creative staff also includes Gianni Downs, set designer; Dorothy Marshall Englis, costume designer; Mark P. Wilson, lighting designer; Misha Fiskel, sound designer; and Champe Leary, stage manager.

For more information about The Rep's production of In The Next Room or the vibrator play, including a guide introducing the characters, plot and background on the play; photos related to the production; and more, visit The Rep's comprehensive public website at http://www.repstl.org.