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MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT

Sarah Ruhl is an American playwright, author, essayist, and professor. Her plays have been produced on Broadway and across the country as well as internationally, and translated into fourteen languages.

 

In addition to BECKY NURSE OF SALEM, her plays produced at Lincoln Center Theater include HOW TO TRANSCEND A HAPPY MARRIAGE; THE OLDEST BOY; IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY (Pulitzer Prize finalist); THE CLEAN HOUSE (Pulitzer Prize finalist, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize). Other plays include FOR PETER PAN ON HER 70TH BIRTHDAY; STAGE KISS; DEAR ELIZABETH; PASSION PLAY (PEN American Award); DEAD MAN’S CELL PHONE (Helen Hayes Award); MELANCHOLY PLAY; and EURYDICE (named one of the best productions of the last twenty-five years by the New York Times). Her books include SMILE, A MEMOIR; 100 ESSAYS I DON’T HAVE TIME TO WRITE; and LOVE POEMS IN QUARANTINE.

 

Originally from Chicago, Ms. Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University. She is the recipient of many awards including a MacArthur “Genius” Grant. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Visualizing the World

The design presentation is an important part of the first day of rehearsal. The director and designers use the set model and renderings, or images of the designs, to give the actors a sense of what they’ll be working with in the rehearsal room and onstage. Below are some of the ways BECKY NURSE OF SALEM’s designers and the director described the show’s design elements on the first day of rehearsal at Lincoln Center Theater.

REBECCA TAICHMAN

According to director Rebecca Taichman, BECKY NURSE OF SALEM shows off one of playwright Sarah Ruhl’s signature talents: embedding big ideas in intimate stories. “Sarah’s work,” Taichman said, “straddles the epic and mythic on the one hand and the deeply human on the other.” Taichman notes that, “When you have thrilling actors and a thrilling script, as we do with BECKY NURSE, you don’t have to overload the visuals. My job is to release the story to an audience. That’s the highest value.”

Read an interview with Rebecca Taichman on LCT’s website

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Sarah Ruhl (left) with Rebecca Taichman (right) on the first day of rehearsal. Photo: Daniel Rader

The playwright, director, and the actor playing Becky talk about BECKY NURSE OF SALEM, their favorite witches, and the magic of Sarah Ruhl’s writing.
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