The time period: Summer, 1891.
The general location: Rural Pennsylvania.
The specific location: Sandreuter Home For Women, a drab brick mansion that sits in isolation on a hill.
The premise: You and your fellow players are women of varying ages from upper-class families. Due to events in your individual lives, you have each been diagnosed (by doctors and/or family members) as suffering from “temporary nervous hysteria and slight depression” for which it has been decided you should be subjected to a mandated rest cure. You have been sent to Sandreuter Home For Women to recover away from the busy world of your everyday lives, with the hopes that a lack of stimulation (both mental and physical) will help you get better.
Sandreuter Home For Women is run by two individuals; the first is Dr. Boris Altatears. Dr. Altatears was once a dentist in Pittsburgh, but when his beloved wife, Betsy, began to suffer from hysteria he found himself drawn more and more towards a medical path best suited for treatment of such conditions. Though his wife has since passed away, Dr. Altatears has sought to help other patients in similar circumstances. He serves as the medical professional for all needs at Sandreuter Home For Women.
Ms. Valarie Sandreuter, the namesake of Sandreuter Home For Women, handles all domestic matters. A wealthy spinster, Ms. Sandreuter herself once had a breakdown similar to yours and found that through Dr. Altatears’ prescribed isolations her health greatly improved. She has invested in this remote property to ensure other women get the quality treatment through lack of stimulation she received.
Sandreuter Home For Women is a very desolate, dull place with the bare essentials and little else. There are no books allowed on the premise and even journalling or painting is forbidden. You are allowed to write one letter a week to your family but your family has been told not to write back should it interfere with your treatment. Residents are encourages to take in fresh air and rest, but no physical exertion is encouraged due to the risk it may cause undue strain as you recuperate. The only source of any excitement are the fields of wildflowers that surround the property; their colors are a contrast from the colorlessness around you.
Per medical instructions, you are expected to remain at Sandreuter Home For Women at least until September, if not longer should your condition not improve. Any requests you make to leave earlier fall on deaf ears; “you are here to recover,” Dr. Altatears explains to you with his matter-of-fact tone, “I will decide when you are well enough to go home.”
How do you spend your recovery? Do you patiently follow the expected rest cure? Are you able to get by with the limited stimulation or do you need something more? Is a rest cure really what is best for your condition as doctors seem to believe?
Find out in…
FLOWERY FIELDS
Hosted and narrated by:
Rhino Time (rhinotime)
Started 01/31/23.
Scenes played: 1
License: Community License
