"Hysteria", a mischievous period romance about the creation of the first electromechanical vibrator, opens June 22 at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. Also continuing to show is "Peace, Love, and Understanding," starring Jane Fonda as a hippie grandmother reconnecting with her family.
"Hysteria" is rated R and plays through July 5. "Peace, Love and Misunderstanding" is rated R and plays through June 28.
Set in the 1880's, just as a flurry of newfangled gadgets and inventions was changing the world, "Hysteria" follows the historic creation of the best-selling domestic appliance that dared not announce its true purpose — the electrical vibrator.
"Hysteria" is a feisty love story and a trip into hidden history. The cast is led by Academy Award-nominee Maggie Gyllenhall and leading man Hugh Dancy.
Directed by two-time Academy Award-nominated director Bruce Beresford, "Peace, Love and Misunderstanding" is a heart-felt comedy that features Catherine Keener as "Diane," an uptight Manhattan lawyer. To her, crazy means driving her teenage son Jake (Nat Wolff) and daughter (Elizabeth Olsen) to Woodstock to visit Grace, their grandmother (Fonda).
The crazy part is that the kids have never met Grace, and Diane has not spoken to her mother in 20 years.
Grace is the epitome of the term "hippie" — staging protests and hootenannies in the town square; smoking (and selling) a lot of marijuana; and howling at the moon once a month with her goddess-worshipping friends.
What is meant to be a weekend getaway turns into a summer adventure of romance, music, family secrets and self-discovery.
For more information, including show times, go to http://www.theross.org or call 402-472-5353.