Setting off from a farm in Indiana as a young girl named Ruby struggles to turn her dream of the first all-electrical television system into a reality, and jumping forward to a McCarthy-era New York TV studio where Ruby’s heirs fight over how her story should be told.

Play title: The Ruby Sunrise

Author (s): Rinne Groff

Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

Publication Date: 2006

Genre: Drama

Primary Discipline: Technology

Scientist (s):  Philo Farnsworth

Source Texts: Unknown

Character Breakdown:  Part One: 2f, 1m (Ruby, Henry, Lois)

Part Two: 4f, 3m (Lulu, Tad Rose, Martin Marcus, Suzie Tyrone, Paul Benjamin, Ethel Reed, Elizabeth Hunter)

Setting: Part One: Boarding house in Indiana.

Part Two: New York City and Part Three:  A combination of Parts One and Two.

Time Period:  Part One: 1927 Part Two: 1952 Part Three: Combination of Parts One and Two

Synopsis of Play: Setting off from a farm in Indiana as a young girl named Ruby struggles to turn her dream of the first all-electrical television system into a reality, and jumping forward to a McCarthy-era New York TV studio where Ruby’s heirs fight over how her story should be told. (Play text blurb, Dramatists Play Service, Inc.)

First Performance Date:  The Ruby Sunrise was commissioned by Playwrights Horizons with funds provided by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Commissioning Program; developed with the assistance of the Sundance Theater Lab; and premiered by Trinity Rep and Actors Theatre of Louisville.

First Producer: Playwrights Horizons

Performance History:  The Ruby Sunrise received its New York premiere at The Public Theater on November 1, 2005.  It was directed by Oskar Eustis; the set design was by Eugene Lee; the costume design was by Deb Newhall; the lighting design was by Deb Sullivan; and the sound design was by Bray Poor.

Review Links:

http://variety.com/2005/legit/reviews/the-ruby-sunrise-1200520232/

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/theater/reviews/dreams-compromise-and-a-talking-box.html

http://chicagocritic.com/the-ruby-sunrise/

https://latw.org/title/ruby-sunrise

Entered by: Denise Gillman/Brooke Sanders

Production Photos: