Here they are! The amazing team of artists bringing Orlando to life!

Beth Thompson
Orlando
Beth Thompson is a performer, teacher and maker of new works. She was last seen in Profile’s In the Next Room… playing Annie. She is deeply grateful to Virginia, Vita and Sarah Ruhl for Orlando’s challenging, fluid, lovely Truth and the opportunity to play in it. Portland is Beth’s home and here she collaborates with Shaking the Tree Theatre, Many Hats Collaborations, The Forgery, Theatre Vertigo, Portland Playhouse, PCS’s JAW Festival, Action/Adventure, and Oregon Children’s Theatre. www.bethjthompson.com

Crystal Muñoz
Chorus
Crystal is excited to return to Profile, having last appeared as Consuela in Eyes for Consuela.  Favorite Portland credits include Twelfth Night (Portland Shakespeare Project), A Pigeon and a Boy and The Ministry of Special Cases (JTC’s Page2Stage), The Huntsmen (Portland Playhouse), Kiss of the Spider Woman (triangle productions), and Hamlet (Anon It Moves). Crystal is also a 2013 Drammy winner (Matilde in The Clean House, Lunacy Stageworks).

Ben Newman*
Chorus
Portland stage credits include: Middletown at Third Rail Repertory Theatre, CoHo Summerfest, Blood Knot and True West at Profile Theatre, Promising Playwrights/Visions to Voices at Portland Center Stage. New York: High Plains (A Western Myth) at Jimmy’s No. 43 and Edinburgh Fringe Festival ’13, The Town of No One at NY Fringe ’11, Henry VI, Part III with Classic Stage Company, Romeo and Juliet at Columbia Stages, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Wide Eyed Productions. Regional: Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Denver Center Theatre, Kansas City Actors Theatre, Riverside Shakespeare Festival. TV: Grimm. Ben is an instructor at Portland Actors Conservatory, and has directed in Israel and the University of Northern Colorado. BA University of Northern Colorado. MFA University of Missouri – Kansas City.

Ted Rooney*
Chorus
Thanks to Profile Theatre, Ted is making his first appearance in a fully staged play in Portland since he was Launce in Two Gentlemen of Verona at Lewis & Clark College in 1984. Regional Theatres: Ahmanson, Williamstown, The McCarter, The Wilma, The Arden, Portland Stage, Idaho Shakespeare. 10 off-off Broadway credits and 10 with The Actors Co-op(LA): Uncle Vanya, The Foreigner, Man of La Mancha, Terra Nova, Damn Yankees, and Twelfth Night. Ted has 35 TV guest-star credits, over 20 principal film roles and over 35 commercials (Yep. He was Abe Lincoln wrestling and dreaming). MFA from Temple U.

Elizabeth Rothan*
Chorus
Elizabeth Rothan has dedicated her life to the performing arts as actor, playwright, director, producer and teacher. She has worked with playwrights Mark Medoff in The Gulf War Chronicle, Meline Marnich in Quake and Mac Wellman in Two September. Regional credits include: Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Retreat from Moscow, Dixie Swim Club, Be Aggressive, and the role of Simone de Beauvoir in Transatlantic Liaison at the Harold Clurman Theater in NYC. Elizabeth has taught diverse acting disciplines at Eugene O’Neill’s National Theater Institute, University of Portland, Linfield College, and is currently teaching at Portland Actors Conservatory. Upcoming directing credits include Midsummer Night’s Dream at PAC (December, 2015) and Andrea Stolowitz’s Successful Strategies (June, 2016) at Theater 33

Creative Team

Matthew B. Zrebski
Director
A founding member of Playwrights West, Matthew B. Zrebski is a multi-award winning director, playwright, composer, script consultant, teaching artist, and producer whose career has been defined by new play development and innovative productions of classic stories.  Recent directing credits include Up the Fall (PHAME), Bob: A Life in 5 Acts (Theatre Vertigo; Drammy Award, Best Director), The Sweatermakers (Playwrights West), The Giver (OCT), and Ablaze (Staged!).  He serves as the Resident Teaching Artist at Portland Center Stage and holds a BFA in Theatre from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.

Tal Sanders
Scenic Design
Tal is an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Dance at Pacific University. He is a member of the United Scenic Artists, and has designed lighting and scenery for many aspects of entertainment including: theatre, film, television, theme parks, concert stages, cruise ships, mall décor, and zoos. He previously designed for the Neil Simon season at Profile Theatre. Tal holds an MFA from CalArts.

Carl Faber
Lighting Design
Recent lighting design credits include : Dead Man’s Cell Phone and Eyes for Consuela (Profile Theatre), 4000 Miles and The Price (Artists Rep), Mary Poppins (NWCT, PAMTA nomination), Trouble in Mind (Arena Stage), Wilderness (Uferstudios, Berlin), The Experiment (Boston ICA), Brother Brother (Theater Freiburg). Founding Member and Resident Designer for NYC-based immersive theater company, Woodshed Collective. Touring: Bon Iver, The National. Grounds Lighting Designer: Eaux Claires Music Festival. Lighting Supervisor: Williamstown Theatre Festival ’08-’09. Broadway Associate/Assistant: The Book of Mormon, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, August: Osage County. Education: Catlin Gabel, Vassar College. www.carlfaber.com.

Alison Heryer
Costume Design
Alison Heryer is a designer for theatre film and print. Her work as a costume designer includes productions at Steppenwolf Theatre, The New Victory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, ZACH Theatre, Redmoon Theater, and La MaMa.  Recent awards include the Austin Critics Table Award for Costume Design and the ArtsKC Inspiration Grant. Heryer holds an MFA in Theatrical Design from the University of Texas at Austin and is a member of United Scenic Artists.  She is currently the Assistant Professor of Costume Design in the School of Theatre + Film at Portland State University.

Em Gustason
Sound Design
Em is delighted to be making his Profile debut with this amazing show and team of collaborators. He has recently been recognized at the Drammy’s for his work on The Sweatermakers, for which he won Outstanding Sound Design. He has worked around town with companies including Coho, Playwright’s West, OCT, Third Rail, PCS, and most recently Portland Playhouse’s. He holds a BA in technical theatre and audio recording from The Evergreen State College.

Drew Dannhorn
Props Design
Drew is an artist, tinkerer, and dreamer. He is a Drammy Award winning prop designer (The Giver) who has been involved in more than a hundred local productions. Other prop credits include: Third Rail Repertory, Portland Center Stage, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Mount Hood Repertory, Hand2Mouth Theatre, Bag & Baggage, Broadway Rose, and Gypsy Films. Drew is a graduate of Northwestern University’s theatre school and a former student of The Actor’s Gymnasium.

D Westerholm*
Stage Manager
Portland Stage Management credits: Fall Festival: Passion Play; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; Dead Man’s Cell Phone; True West; Festival of One Acts; Buried Child; Eyes for Consuela; The Road to Mecca (Profile Theatre); The Price (Artists Repertory Theatre); The Light in the Piazza (Portland Playhouse). Oregon Shakespeare Festival, non-equity Assistant Stage Manager: The Unfortunates (2013), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2013), Troilus and Cressida (2012), The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa (2012), Julius Caesar (2011), The African Company Presents Richard III (2011). BA in Theatre Management from Western Washington University, MFA in Stage Management from Columbia University.

Ross Jackson
Production Assistant
Last year Ross assisted on True West, Inside Out Tour, and Festival of One Acts. Ross also recently stage managed the tour of The Lady Onstage. Other recent credits include; The International and UCI’s Coast-to-Coast Showcase (Playwright’s Horizons), The Anarchist Girl (New Musicals Inc.), and several productions with the University of California, Irvine from which he holds his Master of Fine Arts degree. This summer, Ross had the pleasure of working as the Stage Management Intern for Wicked on Broadway.

*Member Actors’ Equity Association, the professional union of actors and stage managers.

When I first found out about an open audition at Profile Theatre to be an acting intern, I was thrilled!  Then, when I found out that the roles for the interns were movement based, I panicked. Believing that I was possibly one of the most awkward and uninspiring “movers” anyone would ever have to witness, I immediately felt like I had no chance. I imagined that I would take my stiff and awkward self right out of my comfort zone and I would fail. Miserably. It seems crazy to me now to think about the fear that the word “movement” made me feel. Because of that fear, I decided I wasn’t going to go to the audition. The only problem was that I kept hearing the voice of my acting professor in my head. She wanted her students to do this audition. It was a great opportunity for us. Honestly, the only reason I decided to go was because I could not bear to disappoint her.

When the audition began, I was shocked at how scary it… wasn’t. I didn’t feel judged. I didn’t feel like a joke. I actually had….fun. Fun. I had fun moving my rugged and ungraceful body all over the room.  I saw my peers cutting loose and being fearless, and I forced myself to do the same. I walked out of that room smiling. I had triumphed over my fears that day and no matter the outcome, I had won. Then I was actually offered an internship. I was utterly shocked, completely overjoyed, and flooded with nervousness. But I accepted. And it was one of the best decisions I have ever made for myself.

Ms. Holt with fellow intern Jake Turner in DEAD MAN’S CELL PHONE

The rehearsal process for Dead Man’s Cell Phone was an intensive training for me, that broke me down in order to build me back up. I had to use my body and brain together like I never did before. I had to teach my muscles to move in completely foreign ways. In every rehearsal, I felt myself changing.

I had discovered a new outlet for my creativity. By the time we started performing I was fully embracing my role as a mover. My athletic, strong, boyish body changed from something I was uncomfortable with to an instrument that I adored. What I didn’t know at the time was that this training as a mover was making me a better actor. A true chameleon.

After Dead Man’s Cell Phone, I was invited to audition for other Profile shows. I managed to get a call back for Passion Play. I don’t think that I have ever been that nervous in my life. I didn’t know anyone at the audition and sat quietly on my own, waiting for my turn. I was grateful to be given the chance to hold my own against much more seasoned actors. When I received an offer for the role of Violet/The Village Idiot, I could not believe it. I jumped off of my couch screaming, threw my arms around my friend and jumped up and down, tears welling up in my eyes. Everything I had gone through had gotten me to this point. Facing my fears, pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, taking every opportunity given to me no matter how scary it seemed. I went from acting intern to paid cast member in less than a year. I never thought that was possible for me.

Ms. Holt rehearses the role of Village Idiot in PASSION PLAY

What’s more, I feel like I gained a whole family in the process. Having moved to Portland from New Hampshire by myself, I can walk into that theatre and see comforting and familiar faces and it feels like home.

Now, I have the opportunity to work with a wonderful new group of people at Shaking The Tree Theatre. From the cast and crew, to the theatre space, to the whimsical, brilliant mind of director Samantha Van Der Merwe, the people that I get to work with are constantly inspiring me. All of my movement training is being utilized and I have never felt better about myself as an actor and about what I can bring to the table. I feel free and fearless. I am learning to push myself and I am having fun doing it. I never would have thought than an acting internship would teach me to love my body, give me a family, and ignite a fierce passion for my art. But it did just that.

What is a Passion Play?

A “Passion Play” is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. Passion Plays originated in Europe during the Middle Ages as a way of teaching the populace about Christianity.  The tradition of a Passion Play has its roots in the ritual of the Church.   Initially, Passion Plays were performed in Latin by monks, but eventually community members started taking over the roles and performing in the common vernacular.  As time passed, the content and style of presentation continued to shift, with different communities adapting more and more to audience expectations, adding characters and freely translating hymns and scripture.  By the fifteenth century the transition from Church ritual to dramatic performance was complete. 

A performance of the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany

The tradition of performing a Passion Play was common in several cities and regions throughout Europe, particularly Germany and Austria.  The productions often expanded to include many more stories from the bible.  Performances of some versions began to last multiple days and became closely connected with the growth, identity and increasing self-confidence of the cities in which they were presented.

The Passion Plays of the 15th century, with their peculiar blending of religious, artistic, and increasingly secular elements gave a true picture of contemporary life in those times.  However, with the advent of 16th-century European religious conflict, the uneasiness with liturgical drama increased. The Passion Plays came to be presented more and more rarely, with the Reformation causing them to disappear almost completely.

However, public interest in Passion Plays was revived in the last decades of the 19th century.  Since then, cities in countries all around the world have developed robust Passion Play traditions that continue to this day, including in England, Brazil, Australia, Canada, the Philippines, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Poland, Slovenia and the United States.

The stage for the Passion Play of Black Hills, South Dakota

What is Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play?

Sarah Ruhl took the history of Passion Plays and their role as a community cultural event, and used them as inspiration to create an epic, magical and moving piece of theatre.  Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play is three individual plays that each examine a distinct and individual community as they prepare to perform their annual Passion Play.  The first part takes place in the north of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the second part takes place in Oberammergau, Germany at the start of World War II and the third part takes place in Black Hills, South Dakota during the Vietnam War.  Each of these locations historically has a rich tradition of community Passion Plays and Ms. Ruhl draws on that tradition to explore themes of identity, faith, love, power, and community against the distinct background of each individual play.

I accepted the role of Catherine Givings in Profile Theatre’s production of vibrator play when I was about 5 months pregnant with my first child, knowing that we would go into rehearsals when the baby would be about six months old.  Catherine was a character unlike most I had ever played and I couldn’t make sense of  her impulsiveness, or her knack for putting her foot squarely in her mouth.  My A-type personality didn’t understand her- and honestly, kind of judged her.  When I thought about the production in the final months of my pregnancy, my primary concern was getting myself back into “corset shape” (whatever that is) and planning on learning all of my lines during my down time while on maternity leave. (Ha. Down time on maternity leave….Ha ha ha ha.)  I figured that would allow me to sort out the character in rehearsal.

The last time I read the play before I actually became a parent was about three weeks before I gave birth.  Woah, wait a minute!  I looked at the play in a whole new light. Yes, the play has vibrators.  And the treatment for hysteria is administered on stage.  But – there was a HUGE piece of the play that I had not been considering!

Catherine and Doctor Givings have a baby.  A new baby.  And the baby is not thriving – Catherine’s breast milk is insufficient.  The baby is wasting away and something must be done.  Catherine is fragile.  She is desperate.  She feels inadequate.

When I gave birth, and in the subsequent foggy weeks of early parenthood, when I got overwhelmed, I found myself thinking “Well, this is good research for vibrator play.”  It is a well worn cliche, but for good reason:  Being a parent is hard!  Especially in the beginning.  Especially if, as with Catherine, something is not right.  The cocktail of sleep deprivation, hormones, joy and terror makes new moms (and dads) raw, and vulnerable to doubt and despair.  I felt all of this (sometimes in repeating five minute cycles – fun!)  And in some of those moments of doubt, I found myself thinking about Catherine.  Her frustration and fear and guilt.

And that was it! I realized that I did have something profound and very, very present in common with this character.

Catherine is lost, she is curious, she is in chaos, she is impetuous and she is open.  Generally speaking, these are not nouns that have been used when talking about me.  I have always been very focused and always ALWAYS have tried to appear to have everything together.  But then….BOOM….Motherhood!  Being a mom has been upending all of those habits of mine every single day.  Suddenly, saying something without thinking (or forgetting your keys in the fridge) doesn’t seem so outside of the realm of possibility.

It is not surprising to me that the playwright had a young child as she was writing the play, and I love knowing that she was just about to have twins as the play opened on Broadway. Motherhood is all over this play.  It is as central a theme as is self discovery, sexuality, marriage or family.  And that is wonderful.  And daunting.  And beautiful.

And very familiar.

Throughout the run of In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, Profile Theatre is thrilled to partner with Dress for Success. Dress for Success helps women get jobs, keep jobs and transition out of poverty. They promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. We are so excited to work with this fantastic non-profit that is really making a difference in women’s lives.

Profile will be helping Dress for Success by holding a professional clothing drive. When you come to the theatre for In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, please bring a donation of professional women’s attire. We’ll have a donation station in the theatre lobby.

ACCEPTED DONATIONS:

– Skirts
– Dresses
– Pants/Slacks
– Blouses/Professional Tops
– Blazers/Jackets/Winter Coats
– Professional Shoes
– Handbags
– Jewelry
– Accessories: Belts, Scarves, Umbrellas, Gloves
– Bras & Hosiery (new & packaged)
– Cosmetics (new & packaged)

Dress for Success accepts clothing, shoes and accessories that would be appropriate to wear in an office setting. Please donate items that are clean, in-style, and in excellent condition.

In the Next Room, or the vibrator play examines the Victorian era’s foreplay: the first stirrings of women’s rights.

A popular early 20th century periodical, Heart’s International, advertised the latest home electrical appliance with the following slogan: “A Gift That Will Keep Her Young and Pretty: Star Home Electric Massage.” Thomas Edison’s channeling of the electrical current made way for the invention of small machines, such as the 1870s electric massager. This new-fangled device, considered as innovative as the vacuum cleaner, made young men’s sweethearts youthful and vibrant once again. By simply flipping an on-off switch and applying the gyrating head to the point of distress, physicians miraculously transformed their female patients into their finer selves. During the mid-nineteenth century, the very curious and popular male-driven invention called the vibrator treated common afflictions from headaches, to backaches, to hysteria – the malady associated with the weaker sex.

Around 300 BC, Hippocrates defined hysteria (from the Greek word “hystera” meaning “uterus”), as suffocation or madness of the womb. During medieval times, the renaissance period, and throughout the mid-twentieth-century, symptoms including anxiety, sleeplessness, nervousness, sensations of heaviness in the abdomen and lower pelvic region, and vaginal lubrication led physicians to the diagnosis of hysteria. Although “the disease” concerned the female sex organs, the associations with pleasure, eroticism, and physical love (or lack thereof), remained naively absent from the conversation. As Rachel Maines notes in The Technology of the Orgasm, men drew no association between women’s possible sexual dissatisfaction in their lives and hysteria. Paradoxically, a 1910 study by Havelock Ellis found that half of all American women were not sexually excitable, primarily because Ellis reasoned they lacked the sexual drive of men. Yet again, society blamed women for their apparent frustration and “melancholy.” Furthermore, men blamed women for their lack of enthusiasm because, as 1848 French writer Auguste Debay surmised, “Men like to have their happiness shared.”

Second-century Greek philosopher Galen believed that the movement of the womb throughout the body caused hysteria, and that coaxing the uterus back into the normal pelvic position would inspire the expulsion of fluids and the vexing hysteria would subside. During the Elizabethan age, doctors believed vigorous horseback riding cured the illness. In the Victorian era, although it took time and precision, manual manipulation by physicians and midwifes induced a “paroxysm” (i.e., an orgasm), in an effort to alleviate the affliction. Along with the dawn of the electric age, came the electromechanical vibrator to sooth the female syndrome that Freud characterized as “frigidity.” As with all high functioning industrial machines, it increased efficiency and required little skill to operate. And while the device primarily served the physical (and sensual), needs of women, discovery of the syndrome, the invention of the instrument, and even the marketing for it was created by and geared towards men and lacked any sexual connotation. Sears, Roebuck and Company’s 1918 Electrical Goods catalog encouraged husbands to purchase the appliance to restore their wives’ bright eyes and pink cheeks.

Vibrators’ appearance in 1920s pornographic films broke their wholesome, asexual image and solidified the connection between clinical orgasms and sex. With this taboo identification, the general public no longer associated vibrators with healthcare but rather with amoral sexual pleasure. Not until the 1970s, with the embracement of free love and the continuance of the women’s movement, did vibrators reemerge in the popular American zeitgeist. For instance, in 1977, sex therapist Dr. Joani Blank opened San Francisco’s Good Vibrations, a shop that actively serves female constituents and houses the largest collection of vibrators in the country. With women as designers, marketers and consumers, vibrators became part of the contemporary urban landscape as tokens of pleasure, health, and free sexual expression. In concurrence with this movement, Dr. Annie Sprinkle (former porn star, current performance artist and professor), writes, “Our sexuality is not only something that can be used for the enhancement of an intimate relationship, for physical pleasure, or procreation; it can also be used for personal transformation, physical and emotional healing, self-realization, spiritual growth, and as a way to learn about life and death.” With In the Next Room or the vibrator play, Sarah Ruhl examines the Victorian era’s foreplay: the first stirrings of women’s rights.

– Kristin Leahey, PhD
Literary Director, Seattle Repertory Theatre

Dead Man’s Cell Phone
By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Adriana Baer
January 29 – February 15, 2015