These are all words one may wish to employ to describe Alley Rep’s daring new show. “In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)” is a play by Sarah Ruhl, published by Samuel French, that came out first in 2009. As you may have deduced, the play is centered around the vibrator and how it came to be — and be used. Doctors were supposedly using it in a clinical way to treat women for “hysteria” by utilizing the device to bring them to, ahem, orgasm. Themes of the play also explore the Victorian era “ignorance of female sexual desire, motherhood, breastfeeding, and jealousy,” according to Robert Hurwitt, who wrote a 2009 play review for the San Francisco Chronicle. The play was nominated for three Tony Awards and was a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist in the drama category.
It is billed as both a comedy and a drama. Here’s the description from Alley Rep’s website:
”Climax, paroxysm, excitement, gratification, orgasm; also known as female hysteria.
”In the waning years of the 19th century, a ground-breaking physician treats the ‘hysteric’ needs of his female patients while overlooking domestic discontent in his own home. 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 and blush, this Pulitzer-nominated production explores sexual awakening and desire, while confronting questions of female sexuality and emancipation.”
The show runs March 2 through March 18. Tickets are $30 general admission and are available for purchase through the website: alleyrep.org.
I recently reached out via email to Alley Rep’s artistic director and also director of this production, Buffie Main, to ask her a few questions about this titillating show. The following has been gently edited.
So — “In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)” is Alley Rep’s next show. Set in the Victorian era when electricity had only just been invented, this play is a randy one, purportedly tracing the history of the vibrator and its effects of bringing women to orgasm. I’m curious — what made you choose this one? Details, please.
“In the Next Room” was nominated a finalist for a Pulitzer in 2010 for its frank and funny exploration of the medical use of vibrators on women in the late 1800s as clinical treatment for ‘hysteria.’ The play explores female health, sexuality, and motherhood. While the story takes place in the 1800s … those themes — women’s health, sexuality, and motherhood — feel very relevant to 2023.
Was it difficult finding a Victorian era-type vibrator? And did the cast break into giggles every time it was turned on? Any anecdotes here appreciated.
Let’s just say, the cast still giggles when we turn them on, and our hope is the audience will, too! The vibrators being used in this production were built by artist Flint Weisser. Flint is a sculptor who likes to create objects which explore a very real border, like between those scientific areas we can sense, and those that remain invisible (like electromagnetism). It seemed like a perfect fit to ask Flint to help us recreate these instruments.
As a bonus, Flint’s current installation is on exhibit at VAC and you can see it, and other pieces of his work, both on the walls and incorporated into the set.
I am titillated just reading about this play, billed as a comedy AND a drama. What more can you tell us about it — and what can we expect as audience members?
Sarah Ruhl has taken very complex subject matter — women’s sexuality, female autonomy, emancipation, and passion and wraps them in a story that ultimately is about love and desire. Not only sexual desire, but the desire for relationships that sustain us as we grow and change as people. The play navigates historic truths about female frustration, solitude, and a male dominated perspective of the female anatomy with just enough humor and levity to let us into what was and still is female suffering in many parts of the world. It’s that edge that makes this play compelling and contemporary.
Big takeaways? And how much fun to direct this one? Details!
We’ve had a lot of fun in the rehearsal process — it’s hard not to with Nick Garcia and Tiara Thompson leading the way. We added some new elements to the production process by bringing in Intimacy Coordinator Jaime Nebecker, and by having multiple conversations about the impact of race, class, and gender issues of the late 1880s.
Fun and laughter were definitely part of the process, along with a deep mindfulness that how we treat women and women’s bodies on stage and in real life impacts women’s health, safety, and empowerment in all aspects of our lives.
