Tony Winner Deirdre O'Connell to Star in Sarah Ruhl's Becky Nurse of Salem Off-Broadway

Sarah Ruhl's Becky Nurse of Salem is coming to Lincoln Center Theater's off-Broadway venue Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater this fall. The new play, directed by Tony winner Rebecca Taichman, will begin preview performances on October 27 and open on November 21. 

The dark comedy stars Tony winner Deirdre O’Connell as Becky along with Tina Benko, Candy Buckley, Alicia Crowder, Thomas Jay Ryan, Julian Sanchez and Bernard White.

Becky Nurse of Salem follows Becky (O’Connell), a modern-day descendent of accused witch Rebecca Nurse in Salem. Becky, who works at the local witch museum, seems to be dogged by bad luck. Is it a curse from her past? Or her inability to navigate her present Looking for love and redemption through spells, pills, and a bartender named Bob (White), Becky is a contemporary pilgrim for the Lock Her Up era. A play about the legacy of misogyny, witchcraft and even Arthur Miller, Becky Nurse is a truth-teller for our times.

Playwright Ruhl is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for In the Next Room, or the vibrator play and The Clean House. She is also known for writing How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, The Oldest Boy, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, Dead Man’s Cell Phone and more. Ruhl has received several awards including the MacArthur “Genius” Grant, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, Helen Merrill Emerging Playwrights Award, Whiting Writers’ Award, MacArthur Fellowship and more.

The production features sets by Riccardo Hernandez, costumes by Emily Rebholz, lighting by Barbara Samuels, sound by Palmer Hefferan, and projections by Tal Yarden. Caroline Englander is the stage manager.