In the Next Room

A fascinating, funny and evocative play. . . . Ruhl develops the story with the enticing blend of irreverent humor and skewed realism. . . . It s beautiful. "San Francisco Chronicle"

[This] breathtakingly inventive addition to Ruhl s singular body of work . . . has the potential to be a modern masterpiece. "Los Angeles Times"

Sarah Ruhl made her Broadway debut this fall with her latest effervescent comedy: a play about sex, intimacy, and equality, set in the 1880s, when enthusiasm for the electric light bulb gave rise to a handy new instrument to treat female hysteria. The story revolves around the medical office and home of Dr. Givings, who regularly induces paroxysm in his once high-strung patient Sabrina, allowing her to happily return to playing piano. Soon, Sabrina falls in love with the doctor s assistant Annie, and also befriends his wife Catherine, who is dealing with her own neurotic misgivings about not being able to breast-feed her baby. With this new work, Ruhl once again uses playful symbolism and lyrical language as she makes seemingly effortless thematic leaps crafting a play with tremendous critical and audience appeal, in her singular theatrical voice.

Sarah Ruhl s plays include "Dead Man s Cell Phone," "The Clean House" (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), "Passion Play," and "Eurydice," all of which have been widely produced throughout the United States and internationally. She is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship."