IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY
CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE
APRIL 13-MAY 13, 2012Tickets: www.clevelandplayhouse.com or 216-241-6000
In a salacious age when little or nothing is left to the imagination, there is something inexplicably refreshing in looking from a 21st-century perspective at a play about sexual ignorance set in the late 19th century.
Bob AbelmanAPRIL 13-MAY 13, 2012Tickets: www.clevelandplayhouse.com or 216-241-6000
In a salacious age when little or nothing is left to the imagination, there is something inexplicably refreshing in looking from a 21st-century perspective at a play about sexual ignorance set in the late 19th century.
The Sarah Ruhl rules apply to this as well as her other quirky comedies: She calls attention to taken-for-granted phenomena (in this case, the divide between women’s lives and and men’s perceptions of them), features lost women who find themselves through modern technology, and is theatrically adventurous with a metaphysical twist. Good stuff. Oh, and there's a naked guy.
To see a full review of this show, read Bob Abelman's News-Herald article here.
Roy Berko
IN THE NEXT ROOM (or the vibrator play) is filled with laughter, views of the needs of women, naïve treatment of the “weaker sex” by men, excellent acting, and a beautiful set and costumes. This is a production well worth seeing!!!
Fran Heller
Ruhl's idiosyncratic voice is one of the freshest, funniest and most original among contemporary writers for the stage and a personal favorite of mine.
To see a full review of this show, read Fran Heller's review at the Cleveland Jewish News
Christine Howey
Back at the end of the 19th century, when this play is set, the issue was agreed upon by both genders: women didn’t have sexual urges or needs, they had “hysteria.” This elegant production at the Cleveland Play House fairly glitters, and is a frequently laugh-out-loud experience.
To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's blog Rave and Pan
Kory
Playwright Sarah Ruhl’s scandalous In The Next Room, or the vibrator play stirs chatter, gasps and scandal at Cleveland Play House‘ Second Stage!
To see a full review of this show, read Kory's blog at New102.com.
Art Thomas
The play engages the audience first as a broad farce that stairizes morals and manners of Victorian rigidness. Then playwright Ruhl deftly moves us into a world where repressed women take ownership of their own bodies and pleasures. Finally there's a reconciliation in the battle of the sexes. Come for the comedy; stay for the substance; enjoy the high production values.
Click here to read the complete review at WestLife
Kerry Clawson
Folks certainly do a double take just reading the title of In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, a play whose story stems from the clinical use of a certain electric device in the 1880s. But this tender comedy by Sarah Ruhl -- set in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the buttoned-up Victorian era just after the dawn of electricity -- is really about so much more. It’s about women discovering themselves and ultimately finding fulfillment and intimacy with their husbands.
To see a full review of this show, read Kerry Clawson's review here.
