Laura Benanti and Michael Cerveris lead the cast in this provocative, funny, touching and marvelously entertaining story about a young doctor and his wife set at the dawn of the age of electricity in the 1880s. Back then hysteria was a real diagnosis, and women were commonly treated with electrical stimulating machines to ease their condition! Playwright Sarah Ruhl wondered what exactly doctors were thinking when they used vibrator therapies on their female patients. And what did women think was happening to them? In the Next Room or the vibrator play looks at a young technology-obsessed doctor and the devoted wife who longs to connect with him -- but not electrically.
This comedy about marriage, intimacy and electricity had its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
The play marks the Broadway debut for Ruhl, who has won numerous honors, including a MacArthur "Genius" grant. Her other plays include The Clean House (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), Dead Man's Cell Phone, Passion Play, and Eurydice.
User Reviews
Read what our TM Insiders had to say about In the Next Room or the vibrator play!
Review: Much More than Women's Rightsbysaundersworks
This is the best play on Broadway. As much as I enjoyed, say, God of Carnage, In the Next Room actually is smart and bold and biting and funny. Furthermore, I think its way too dismissive to label this play a womens piece, no matter how respectful. The brilliance of the piece is, were laughing at how archaic and clumsy the practices were in those days until it becomes shockingly clear that although our ideas about vibrators and female sexuality may be more evolved, our ability to understand intimacy as it relates to sex is just as backwards. And the last ten minutes of the play are the best Ive seen in years. This play is amazing on so many different levels.
rating: 5 stars · posted on 11/20/2009 at 1:28 AM
Review: Ludlow Lad -- you're right... but --byerickavanaugh
Of course Broadway should have new American plays. There are far too few of them. But $100 is a lot to pay for a ticket to a play that would have never made it out of rep if it were by a different playwright. Its easier to be adventurous as a ticket-buyer and to be tolerant of misses or near-misses if youre paying $35.
Sarah Ruhls IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY is a real treat - smart, funny, and has a lot to say. I question anyone who says this belongs Off Broadway - why NOT on Broadway? Does Broadway have to be Neil Simon plays and golden-age revivals? I agree that the play is too long please trim Act Two - but dont touch the lovely final scene. I hope Maria Dizzia is remembered at TONY time!
rating: no rating · posted on 10/25/2009 at 8:18 PM
Review: RE:Interesting but fatally flawedbyerickavanaugh
As a fan of Sarah Ruhl, I rushed out to the first preview last night and found the play to be long 2 1/2 hours -- felt like longer and very uneven. By the last moments, as a gimmicky scene with a naked actor happened, I was wondering why I was watching this at Broadway ticket prices when it seemed to belong in an off-Broadway venue. Performances are all over the map -- Cerveris is ok but uninspired, Benanti is distractingly modern, and Williams seems to be in a different play entirely. Only Dizzia seemed to hit the right note in interpreting Ruhls words. Hopefully the show will get better as the run goes on...Live and learn. No more rushing out to previews for me. Patience is a virtue.
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