In+the+Next+Room+or+the+vibrator+play

//In the Next Room or the vibrator play // by Sarah Ruhl toc

**__Plot: __**
A comedy about a doctor, Dr. Givings, treating two patients with hysteria with the help of a new invention, an electric vibrator that provides a therapeutic massage and causes a release in the patient. The invention, and its apparent success, becomes very interesting to the doctor’s wife, Mrs. Givings, who becomes friends with the patients in order to learn more about it. Her curiosity brings about many complications, which creates the basis for the comedy of the play.

Here is a selection of clips from a production of // In the Next Room or the vibrator play // at South Coast Repertory which shows some of the play's more comedic events:

media type="youtube" key="iKY1yCvZF6o" width="560" height="315" align="center"  ** __ About the Author: __ **

Sarah Ruhl is an American playwright and recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Helen Hays Award, Kennedy Center’s Fourth Freedom Forum Playwriting Award, as well as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her plays include, //The Clean House, In The Next Room or the vibrator play, Orlando, Demeter in the City, Passion Play, Eurydice; Melancholy Play; Late: a cowboy song// and //Dead Man’s Cell Phone.// She was born in 1974 in Wilmette Illinois and now lives in New York with her husband, Tony Charuvastra, and daughter, Anna. Ruhl began studying playwriting at Brown. Her first class on the subject was taught by Paula Vogel who says her first impression of Ruhl as a young college student was that she was, “ quiet and serious, but so obviously possessed a mind that came at aesthetics from a unique angle” (Vogel 1). Vogel first noticed Ruhl’s genius when the advanced playwriting class was given an assignment that asked them to create a play with a dog as the protagonist. With this prompt, “Ruhl wrote of her father’s death from that unique angle: a dog is waiting by the door, waiting for the family to come home, unaware that the family is at his master’s funeral, unaware of the concept of death” (Vogel 1). After reading this short play, Vogel knew that this young student was destined for greatness.


 * __Quotes about Sarah Ruhl: __**

“Ruhl is one of the country’s brightest playwrights” –Charles Iserwood, //New York Times//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Her style of writing, “ <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">coaxes the spectators to swim in the magical, sometimes menacing flow of the unconscious.” <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> –Dan Bacalzo, //Theater Mania//

===__**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Inspiration for //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In The Next Room or the vibrator play //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: **__===

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sarah Ruhl was inspired by several texts including, //The Technology of Orgasm// by Rachel P. Maines, //AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War,// and //A Social History of Wet Nursing in America.// As an introduction to the play she writes, “Things that seem impossibly strange in the following play are all true, such as the Chattanooga vibrator, and the vagaries of wet nursing. Things that seem commonplace are all my own invention” (Ruhl 6).

**__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Awards and Nominations: __**

 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Glickman Prize
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">2010 Tony Award nominations:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Best Play
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Best Featured Actress in a Play – Maria Dizzia
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Best Costume Design of a Play – David Zinn

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">“Best Broadway play of 2009… Ruhl has defined gender and genre orthodoxy to give us a hilarious and moving meditation on the many factors that complicate communication between (and within) the sexes.” –Elysa Gardner, USA Today

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">“A fascinating, funny and evocative play. . . . Ruhl develops the story with the enticing blend of irreverent humor and skewed realism. . . . It’s beautiful.” –San Francisco Chronicle

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">“[This] breathtakingly inventive addition to Ruhl’s singular body of work. . . has the potential to be a modern masterpiece.”–Los Angeles Times <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">“Ruhl has written a smart, charming, iridescently funny-serious jewel.” –Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">“It’s safe to say that In the Next Room goes where no Broadway show has gone before. Ruhl presents something a lot more daring than nudity: women’s discovery of their own bodies and their own pleasure… a play that’s smart, delicate, and very, very funny.” –Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post

**__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Setting: __**
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The time period is right when the world was first introduced and getting excited about electricity. It is also at a time after the civil war. As Ruhl notes, “a play hovering at the dawn of electricity” (Ruhl 5). The play is set in “a prosperous spa town outside of New York City”, probably somewhere like Saratoga Springs.



**__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Staging: __**
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 1.5;">The set is divided between two rooms, a living room and a doctor's office “operating theater” (Ruhl 4). Action happens simultaneously in both rooms.

**__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Characters: __**
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">**Dr. Givings:** A man in his 40’s who is a specialist in genealogical and hysterical disorders. He is fascinated by <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">the marvels of technology and what they can do for his patients.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">**Catherine Givings:** The Doctor’s wife, a woman in her late 20’s. She is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">only a bystander in her husband's world - listening at the door from the next room as he treats his female patients”.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">**Sabrina Daldry:** a patient with hysteria, a woman in her early 30’s

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">**Dick Daldry**: Sabrina Daldry’s husband, a man in his 40’s or 50’s

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">**Elizabeth:** an African American woman in her early 30’s, “a wet nurse by default” (Ruhl 5).

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">**Leo Irving**: A well traveled and artistic Englishman in his 20’s or 30’s, another patient of the Dr.

**__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Production History: __**
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">First premiered at Berkley Repertory Theatre in February of 2009 in Berkely, CA.

//<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the Next Room or the vibrator play //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on November 19, 2009.

**__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Original Cast: __**
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dr. Givings-Paul Niebanck

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Catherine Givings--Hannah Cabell

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sabrina Daldry--Maria Dizzia

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mr. Daldry-John Leonard Thompson

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Elizabeth---Melle Powers

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leo Irving Joaquin Torres

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Director: Les Walters

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Scene Design: Annie Smart

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Costume Design: David Zinn

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lighting Design: Russell H. Champa

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sound Design: Bray Poor

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Composer: Jonathan Bell

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16px;">Production Stage Manager: Michael Suenkel

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">

**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> __Broadway Premier:__ **
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> Director: Les Walters <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> Scene Design: Annie Smart <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> Costume Design: David Zinn <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> Lighting Design: Russell H. Champa <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> Sound Design: Bray Poor <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> Composer: Jonathan Bell <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> Stage Manager: Roy Harris

**__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Broadway Cast: __**
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dr. GivingsMichael Cerveris = = <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Catherine Givings---Laura Benanti = = <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sabrina Daldry--Maria Dizzia = = <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mr. DaldryThomas Jay Ryan = = <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">ElizabethQuincy Tyler Bernstine = = <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leo Irving-Chandler Williams

= =

__**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Important Props/Set pieces: **__

 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Electromechanical vibrators <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14px;">(Pictures from vibratormuseum.org)

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">These items were “first used in medicine in 1878 and were available as a consumer product by 1900. The vibrator was the 5th home appliance to be electrified. It was preceded by the sewing machine, fan, teakettle, and the toaster” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">vibratormuseum.org) <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">. This play demonstrates how electrical vibrators were first used for medical purposes, mainly concerning female hysteria, <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">“a Victorian Age diagnosis given to women who found themselves straying outside of the happy, docile domestic role they were expected to play” (Malone 1).


 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Early electric lamps, “One particularly beautiful one with green glass” (Ruhl 5). Ruhl suggests “rather than the usual lighting instruments, something ancient” can be used, to help the audience feel like they really are in the dawn of electricity (Ruhl 5).


 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">A piano: The original music of Jonathan Bell was used for creating the sound of the performance at the Lincoln center production, and Ruhl recommends for future performances that instead of pre recorded music, the use of the piano on its own will create the best sound for setting the intended tone of the piece (Ruhl 5).

===__**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">mportant concepts: **__===

__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hysteria: __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Hysteria was a real diagnosis, and it was quite commonly given to women in the Victorian age. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">“Women's sexual pleasure was the furthest thing from the minds of the male doctors who invented vibrators almost two centuries ago. They were interested in a labor-saving device to spare their hands the fatigue they developed giving hand jobs to a steady stream of 19th century ladies who suffered from “hysteria,” a vaguely defined ailment easily recognizable today as sexual frustration” (Castleman 1). This diagnosis and the way in which it was handled at the time is clearly demonstrated by Dr. Givings as he explains what he will be doing to his patient Mrs. Daldry: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> "We are going to produce in you what is called a paroxysm. The congestion in your womb is causing your hysterical symptoms and if we can release some of that congestion and invite the juice downward your health will be restored… Thanks to the dawn of electricity… I have a new instrument I will use. It used be that it would to take hours to produce a paroxysm in our patients and it demanded quite a lot of skill and patience… but thanks to this new electrical instrument we shall be done in a matter of minutes” (Ruhl 19).

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sexual Pleasure: __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> The play reminds the reader that Victorian men did not believe it was necessary for women to enjoy sex. In fact, “Until the 20th century, American and European men—including physicians—believed that women did not <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">experience sexual desire or pleasure” (Castleman 1). Instead, to put it bluntly, they saw women as “fleshy receptacles for male lust” and believed that “male ejaculation fulfilled women's erotic needs” (Castleman 2). Also, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">women were brought up to believe that they should have no sex drive, and that sex was just something they had to put up with to “keep their husbands happy and [produce] children” (Castleman 2). Mr. Daldry expresses the male perception of sex during this the era very clearly. Speaking of his wife, he implies they have not been intimate in a while by saying, “There is very little sympathy between us” (Ruhl 12). Then when his wife assumes another meaning, he clarifies his statement by saying, “No, her fingers do not work. In the living room. Or in any other room, if you take my meaning, Dr. Givings” (Ruhl 12), implying that she has not been able to satisfy him sexually. It is obvious that he does not take his wife’s sexual gratification into account, because if he did, she wouldn't have been diagnosed with hysteria in the first place.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Works Cited ** <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bacalzo, Dan. "Death Becomes Her - Theater News - May 30, 2007." //TheaterMania.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Castleman, Michael. ""Hysteria" and the Strange History of Vibrators." //Psychology Today//. N.p., 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 4 May 2013. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> "Electric Vibrators." //Electric Vibrators//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Lincoln Center Theater : In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play." //Lincoln Center Theater : In.the Next Room or the Vibrator Play//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Malone, James. "Sex and Intimacy "In the Next Room"" //Dane 101//. N.p., 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 3 May 2013.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ruhl, Sarah. //In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play//. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2010. Print.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Vogel, Paula. "BOMB Magazine: Sarah Ruhl by Paula Vogel." //Atom//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2013.