Sarah Ruhl has become one of the most well received playwrights of the young 21st century. Aaron Posner has been a very popular regional theater director best known in the DC area for his work at The Folger Theatre. These two forces combine to bring Ms. Ruhl's recent Tony nominated play, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play to Washington DC audiences.
Ms. Ruhl mentions that she "always wanted to write a costume drama." Here her reading of 19th century medical history has led to a very quirky little dramedy. For this is a tale of when women, and a few men, were treated for the disease hysteria, believed to be caused by problems in the uterus and treated by (this is a show for adult audiences only) "manual" treatment until the invention of electricity which led to the development of the clinical vibrator.
The humor in the play derives chiefly from the practitioner, Dr. Givings, played wonderfully matter-of-factly by Eric Hissom, as he detachedly discusses the science behind his treatments or the debate of the day between direct and alternating current whilst giving his patients paroxysms, what we would call today orgasms.
But this is really the tale of the women in this piece. All four women are damaged to certain degrees. The play is truly about their healing processes. First we have the doctor's wife, Catherine Givings, played with an exuberance that brings to mind a lot of caffeinated beverages by Katie deBuys. Mrs. Givings is a new mother and she is not producing enough breast milk for her baby. She is also desperate to find out what her husband is doing to his patients and even more so, desperate for her husband's passion.
Sabrina Daldry, played by Kimberly Gilbert, is the first of the doctor's patients we meet. Brought for treatment by her husband, played by James Konicek, she is suffering from nerves and an inability to tolerate light and color. Throughout the course of the play we watch Mrs. Daldry blossom into a bright vibrant woman, who is clearly not receiving satisfaction from her husband, but does not expect to find desire from him and she receives desire and passion in an entirely different direction.
Elizabeth, portrayed by Jessica Frances Dukes, is the African American housekeeper of the Daldry family. She has recently lost a baby to cholera and his hired by the Givings as a wet nurse for their baby. She is a woman who is struggling with her faith, yet willing to earn money doing things she dislikes for the sake of her family. Yet when it becomes clear that her involvement with the other characters leads to strife she gives up the easy money for the love of her husband and family.
The fourth woman is the doctor's nurse, Annie. She is played by the always amazing Sarah Marshall. Ms. Marshall takes this relatively small, but pivotal role and embodies her. With little dialogue she conveys Annie's emotional depth and repression as a spinster working woman who has her desires unexpectedly awakened by her acquaintance with Mrs. Daldry.
The ensemble is completed by Cody Nickell who plays a male patient, Leo Irving. The character is the stereotypical suffering artist who is working through a creative block. But, his character ends up impacting most of the rest of the ensemble which leads to the climax of the tale.
The story is interesting and well acted. Some of the staging tends to ignore that there are audience members seated above and behind the stage requiring them to occasionally stand up and lean over to see some of the action. It does tend to drag a bit in act two, but is a wonderful opportunity to see a work that appeared on Broadway only last season.
For those that care: this play has extremely adult content and simulates sexual pleasure. There is also several minutes of nudity.
The production runs through October 3rd. For tickets and additional performance information go to www.woollymammoth.net
No comments:
Post a Comment