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.