Climax, paroxysm, excitement, gratification, orgasm; also known as female hysteria. This March, Alley Repertory Theater presents In the Next Room, or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl.
The play, written in 2009 (and produced before by Alley Rep, in February of 2012), is set in the waning years of the 19th century.
In the play, a ground-breaking physician treats the “hysteric” needs of his female patients while overlooking domestic discontentment of his bored, and lonely wife. An examination of female sexuality and autonomy, this historically accurate comedy navigates love and marriage, and the remarkable origins of electrifying medical treatments for women.
A show that will make you laugh as much as blush, this Pulitzer and Tony Award nominated play explores sexual awakening and desire. All the while confronting questions of female sexuality and emancipation.
Physical connection and emotional intimacy meet
In the 1880s, the dawn of electricity and its use coincided with the Second Industrial Revolution. New inventions were churned out during this period of time in the United States. Plus, previous inventions and ideas were refined. Incandescent lamps arrived in businesses and homes and, by the time the first electromechanical vibrator – an invention by Joseph Mortimer Granville – arrived in the early 1880s, electrical devices were in the early stages of finding their way into the homes of the masses.
By the turn of the century, the electromechanical vibrator became only the fifth electrical invention to arrive in homes. This followed the sewing machine, fan, tea kettle, and toaster. This vibrator, devised as a way to relieve muscle aches, soon gave way to other uses. As Dr. Givings says in the play, the device provided a “therapeutic electrical massage”.
In the late-19th century, two physicians went on to say three-quarters of American women were at risk for hysteria. So, with the invention of the vibrator, came a perfect chance for doctors to try out this new “medical therapy”.
Dating to the 1st century A.D., the prescription of clitoral orgasm was given as a treatment for hysteria. The idea of hysteria was nothing new, dating back to even Greek and Egyptian societies. It wasn’t until 1952 that the American Psychiatric Association dropped hysteria from the list of recognized conditions. However, hysteria was still studied as a psychological disorder until 1980.
This play is a cross section of electricity, hysteria, liberation, women’s rights, and sexual awakening. Amusing and heartbreaking, informative and emotionally intimate, the play finds a way to balance the historical and fictional with a deft hand. And hopefully finds you thinking about how far we’ve come. Or, in many cases, have not.
Alley Repertory Theater: Meet the cast
This cast for the Alley Repertory Theater production of In the Next Room consists of many veterans of the stage. Alley Rep mainstays and newcomers alike help light up the stage.
Tiara Thompson returns for their fifth Alley Repertory Theater production, last seen in Bull in a China Shop by Bryna Turner. Nick Garcia has been on both sides of Alley Repertory productions, both as an actor and director.
Both seen in last year’s The Royale by Marco Ramirez, Sharmaine McWhite and Sasha Allen-Grieve return to play with Alley Rep. In the Next Room also marks the return for Andres Maldonado, who has been in Indecent by Paula Vogel and Bernhardt/Hamlet by Teresa Rebeck.
Rounding out the cast and making their Alley Rep debuts, carrying with them immense theater and film experience, are Kameron Nichols and John Rowe.
Buffie Main is the director for In the Next Room, or the vibrator play. Liberty Leeds Klautsch, who played the role of Sabrina Daldry in the 2012 Alley Rep. production of this play, serves as assistant director.
Pay-what-you-want preview is March 2 and opening March 3, with the play running through March 18 at the Visual Arts Collective in Garden City. Tickets available on ThunderTix.