In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) by Sarah Ruhl is a historical romantic comedy set in a town in New York when electricity first became available to the home. But for Doctor Givings, electricity is more than illuminating, it has revolutionized his treatment of hysteria which he performs in his home operating theatre. Now, through application of the electric vibrator, he is able to induce healing paroxysms in his patients in minutes, whereas before the manual method could take "hours".

His wife Catherine longs for connection, and while initially her husband's work seems to point in that direction, it becomes clear that mere stimulation alone is not enough. The direct current between hearts is what she seeks, most desperately from her husband whose head is so into the science of the age that in spite of having a good heart, its language is foreign to him. This romance starts out with the boy already having the girl, but will he be able to keep her?

Along the way these and similar questions occur for the Doctor's patient Mrs. Daldry and her husband, for the artist Leo who has a very rare case of male hysteria, and for Elizabeth the wet nurse to the Givings baby, all overseen by the ubiquitous Doctor's assistant, midwife Annie. Everyone, in their own circumstance, is looking to connect, to complete a circuit in this electrifying comedy of the heart.

Starring (in order of appearance): Amanda Liz Cutting, Eric Pettifor, Megan Baldrey, Alan Johnson, Samantha Braitenback, Onika Henry, Ben Francis.

Directed by Paul Welch; Producer, Emerald Tofte; Stage Manager/Assistant Director/Light and Sound designer, Troy Couliard; Set Designer, Nina Garcia; Costume Designer, Hanne Loosen; Apprentice Director/Assistant Stage Manager, Chelsey Fawcett. Set Builder, Erik Hope. Costume Builder, Kira Sams;

In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) Artists

Troy Couillard is Calgary-born director, playwright, stage manager, actor and designer. Past credits include: Stage Management: Fat Pig (Artists’ Collective Theatre), Nine Months is Just An Arbitrary Number, Five By Eleven, A Beautiful View (Sage Theatre), Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, The Basement Boys (Theatre BSMT) and SEXXXY! (University of Calgary). Design: Measure for Measure (University of Calgary, Sound), Five By Eleven (Sage Theatre, Sound), Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, Basement Boys and Duranged! (Theatre BSMT). Troy held the position of Stage Manager/Assistant Director/Light/Sound.

Megan Baldrey is a graduate of Mount Royal University's Theatre Performance program. Select credits include: Persephone (Full Circle Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Full Circle Theatre), Othello (Shakespeare in the Park). Megan is beyond excited to be working on The Vibrator Play and to be in the company of such an inspiring group of theatre artists. Megan play the role of Annie.

Samantha Braitenback has been performing since she was very young. She started her career in community theatre at the age of 12 and has been involved in the arts ever since. She graduated from Mount Royal University in 2010 and studied at Rogues Actors Studio. She was in productions such as Twelfth Night, Rimers of Eldrich, Les Miserables and Artist Collective Theatre’s Almost Maine, as well as Assistant Directing their production of The Goat. Samantha plays the role of Sabrina Daldrey.

Amanda Liz Cutting is thrilled to be a part of The Vibrator Play. Selected credits include Comedy of Errors (Luciana), Macbeth (1st Witch), Rumors (Chris), Frankenstein (Elizabeth), Under Milk Wood (9 Characters), Until the Glass Stops Working (Gillian) and a Poker Girls webisode. She most recently appeared as Helen in ACT's production of Fat Pig. She is a Mount Royal University Graduate in Theatre Arts. Amanda played the role of Catherine Givings.

Chelsey Fawcett holds a Ba(H) in Dramatic arts from the University of Windsor as well as an international performance license in Middle Eastern dance ethnology. Chelsey’s most recent roles include: Artistic Producer - Theatre BSMT, and directing: The Servant – Urban Stories Theatre, Five by Eleven – Sage Theatre, The Basement Boys – Theatre BSMT in which she was nominated for director of the year in 2014. Chelsey works as a freelance director in Calgary. Chelsey held the position of ASM/Apprentice Director.

Ben Francis (a real Englishman) is a graduate of the master class program at the Company of Rogues Actors Studio. Select theatre credits include: All in Good Time (Workshop Theatre), The Rimers of Eldritch (Company of Rogues), The Bar off Melrose (Company of Rogues), Almost Maine (Artists Collective Theatre), and The Goat (Artists Collective Theatre). Ben is thrilled to be working with such a talented group of people and hopes you enjoy the show! Ben played the role of Leo Irving.

Nina Garcia is excited to be working with Artists' Collective Theatre's production of In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play. She is a graduate of the Bachelor of Applied Interior Design Program from Mount Royal University and is currently an interior designer at Gibbs Gage Architects. Past credits include Peter Pan (Set Design, Storybook Theatre), Young Frankenstein (Front Row Centre Players), Blitz (2014 Calgary Regional One Act Play Festival) and Big (Storybook Theatre). Nina held the role of Set Designer.

Onika Henry is a student at the University of Calgary. An extremely talented actress, she had acted in several productions such as William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, Bertolt Brecht's Man Equals Man, and Howard Brenton's Bloody Poetry. She could not be more excited to join this team and bring her talent to Artists' Collective Theatre. Onika played the role of Elizabeth.

Erik Hope is ACT's resident set builder, going all the way back to our innaugral production of The Lonely Soldier Monologues where he created for us near indestructable benches which served again in our production of Almost, Maine. He worked on Hanne Loosen's first design for ACT, Spring Awakening, and was essential in bringing her vision into the realm of reality for The Goat. On The Vibrator Play he does equal justice to the design of Nina Garcia. Erik held the position of Set Builder and Executive Producer.

Alan Johnson has a B.F.A. in Performance from the University of Lethbridge. Select acting credits include: Much Ado About Nothing, The BFG, Hay Fever, Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love (University of Lethbridge), i-Robot Theatre (Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre), Crime in the Madhouse (Organized Crime Productions), The Underpants, Duranged! (Theatre BSMT), The Hobbit (Storybook Theatre). Alan is also the co-founder of Red Phone Theatre, where he is a director and a producer. Alan played the role of Richard Daldry.

Sumaan Khan is a passionate newcomer to the theatre world with an academic background in Geospatial Analysis from SAIT Polytechnic. Mr. Khan is a local writer who has studied playwriting under AJ Demers and Meg Braem through Sage Theatre, and is working towards developing his technical experience in theatre. Mr. Khan assisted in set construction for ACT's In The Next Room, previous credits include Voice Over - The Servant - Urban Stories Theatre. Sumann held the position of Crew Assistant.

For ACT: Spring Awakening, Almost Main & The Goat Select credits Elsewhere: Sing Along with Mary, Cabaret, The Barber of Cowtown (Cowtown Opera), Five by Eleven (Sage Theatre’s Ignite!), The Real McCoy (Ellipsis Tree Collective), Cinderella, Children’s Corner, (State Opera Berlin), Attila (Marrinsky Theatre St Petersburg), Three Sisters (Stage Entertainment Amsterdam)

Hanne Loosen would like to thank Frank and Kira for all there support and advice and her partner for keeping up with her.

For her work visit her website: 

Hanne held the position of Costume Designer.

While at Dalhousie University in Halifax (as an actor), Frank MacLeod was inspired by Robert Doyle, who was Artist in Residence and ran the Costume Studies Program. Frank earned extra credits by working costume crew for the University's main stage productions. That was over 30 years ago and the rest is history! Frank has worked on too many shows to count with companies, like FRC, Morpheus, U of C Operetta, Storybook Theatre and Capuccino Theatre. Frank's Mantra ...“You can have it right, or you can have it now, but you can’t have it right now!” Frank held the position of Assistant Costume Designer.

Eric Pettifor is a graduate of the Vancouver Playhouse Acting School and Artistic Dramaturg of Artists' Collective Theatre. He has directed for the company, and has appeared as Martin in ACT's production of The Goat, Easton in Almost, Maine and Sprugg in Boiler Room Suite. Most recently he appeared as Uncle Albert in Cowtown opera's Sing Along with Mary. He is thrilled to be part of The Vibrator Play. Eric played the role of Dr. Givings.

Kira Sams is a young emerging artist, with dreams of becoming a costume designer. Along with her trusty sewing machine, she has built costumes for various local theatre communities, burlesque dancers, cosplayers and even a few web series. Be it film or stage, Kira will tackle anything that comes her way and loves to take on a challenge. She is currently working as the Vertigo Theatre costume apprentice and on managing her costume/couture brand Luxuria Vice: http://www.luxuriavice.com/ . Kira held the position of Costume Builder.

Emerald Tofte is extremely excited to be producing The Vibrator Play. Past theatre credits include: The Goat (Artists Collective Theatre), Almost, Maine (Artists' Collective Theatre),The Apple Kingdom (Calgary One-Act Festival), The Diary of Anne Frank (Morpheus Theatre). She feels privileged to be working with such an incredibly talented and inspiring group of people. Emerald held the position of Producer.

Paul Welch has a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta and a BA in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Ottawa, and was recently recognized in Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 for a 15-year career as an award-winning actor, writer, director, educator, and arts administrator. Past directing credits include facilitating the Queer Theatre Creation Ensemble projects of This is How I Left, which was nominated for a Critter Award for Best New Script, and The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus, both for Third Street Theatre. Paul has assistant directed on Verb Theatre’s The Dandelion Project, and has worked as a Voice, Speech and Text coach on numerous productions in town. Next up, Paul is directing the musical Red Riding Hood for Storybook Theatre. Paul was the Director.