In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)

Tickets from $51  Buy Tickets

IN THE NEXT ROOM (OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY)

Photo: Lincoln Center Theatre

Cititour.com Review
In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), Sarah Ruhl’s dramedy about awakening sexuality among Victorian women, and men, slips from silly, guilty pleasure to overindulgent imagery.

One might expect that a show so titled be filled with euphemisms and indeed there are many twitter-fueled references to the feelings elicited from a new “invention” that Dr. Givings uses on his patients “in the next room” of his home office. Circa the 1880’s, just when Mr. Edison has brought electricity to the homeowner, all things seem magical.

Ms. Ruhl (The Clean House, Dead Man’s Cell Phone) has penned a work with not-so-subtle use of double-entendre and multiple scenes showing the gadget in use under a sheet, sort of Victorian soft-porn. And while the Doctor’s wife feels neglected, the doctor’s patients seem perfectly satisfied to be cured of “hysteria,” described as “pent-up emotions inside the womb,” with a device that induces “paroxysms.”

Michael Cerveris is the good doctor, adopting a purely professional manner as a concerned physician. His emotions begin as reserved as the time the play takes place, and build slowly throughout, as his wife shares her feelings of loneliness with him. Laura Benanti, as his wife, seems almost child-like in her demeanor, and completely confused by her situation. Chandler Williams as a patient, and the man the good doctor’s wife develops a crush on, is larger than life. One of the best moments in the play comes when the doctor’s wet nurse arrives grieving over the loss of her infant son. Quincy Tyler Bernstine delivers a pristine speech.

Annie Smart’s Victorian home and David Zinn’s costumes elicit the period in an understated way. Lee Waters has directed In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) trying to balance the lyrical text with the bawdy humor woven throughout the play. But it's a plodding work, making its way from giggles about “the invention” to the bigger issues of human connection is a bumpy road.

By Lesley Alexander


Visit the Site
http://www.lct.org/showMain.htm?id=189

Cast
Laura Benanti, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Michael Cerveris, Maria Dizzia, Thomas Jay Ryan, Wendy Rich Stetson, Chandler Williams

Open/Close Dates
Opening 10/22/2009
Closing 1/10/2010

Box Office
212-239-6200

Theatre Info
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map



Comments

^Top