Pulitzer and Tony Award-nominated writer Sarah Ruhl’s show “In the Next Room (Or the Vibrator Play)” looks at women’s health care in the late 19th century through the lens of Dr. Givings, who uses a massage device to induce “therapeutic paroxysms” and treat “female hysteria.” The play also explores deeper societal topics such as intimacy, sexual satisfaction, postpartum depression, love and marriage through the doctor and his wife Catherine, who is at home with their newborn daughter and becomes curious about the activities she hears in the next room.
Invisible Theatre will present the show Sunday, Sept. 13 to Sunday, Sept. 27. They will host previews Sept. 13 and 15 and open the play Sept. 16.
The show will kick off the company’s 55th season.
It is being directed by Christina Walker, who is working with Invisible Theatre for the first time.
The production stars Hannah Turner as Catherine Givings, Josh Parra as Dr. Givings, Tanisha Ray as Catherine’s wet nurse Elizabeth, Allison Akmajian as Dr. Giving’s patient Sabrina Daldry, Taylor Rascher as Sabrina’s husband Mr. Daldry, Kat Basso as Dr. Giving’s midwife assistant Annie and Sean Patrick as Dr. Givings’ patient Leo.
Producer Betsy Kruse Craig, the company’s managing artistic director, said the show is relevant because it explores topics that are pertinent today, such as women’s healthcare and the impact of technology on human relationships.
“I think because of the title, ‘In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play),’ people have been nervous to do it just because they’re afraid of how people will react or if people will come to see it. When you think about the correlation historically to what’s going on in this country politically right now in terms of women’s access to health care and to gynecological care, it seems like the perfect time to do this play,” Kruse Craig said.
The treatments in the show are based off actual therapies that doctors used in the 19th century on women.
“Women who were depressed, women who were nervous, uptight and anxious suddenly had a whole new lease on life. It was definitely effective. It wasn’t just women. It was men as well, very rarely but that does come up in the play as well,” Kruse Craig said.
The show is recommended for ages 18 and up because of the adult content.
The show isn’t overly graphic, but audiences will be able to hear the sounds from the medical device used. Vintage vibrators are also represented onstage. The company purchased one of these devices from an online auction site, and they constructed the other.
Kruse Craig previously produced the show for Pear Theatre in Mountain View, Calif.
When she initially did the show, she visited the Antique Vibrator Museum in San Francisco.
She said this time around with Invisible Theatre, she has had some interesting conversations with others about vibrators and other pleasure devices.
“As I’ve been telling people about the show, I can’t believe how many people have said, ‘Oh, you know what? I used to sell sex toys as a side hustle.’ It’s something that has become a part of culture. It is still somehow a little bit taboo. It’s something that everybody’s familiar with, but it’s still something that we’re embarrassed to talk about,” Kruse Craig said.
Kruse Craig said one of the biggest challenges in doing the show with Invisible Theatre is the size of their stage.
“We have a tiny postage stamp of a stage, but not all of these people are onstage at the same time. It gives seven really fantastic actors an opportunity with the piece… It’s challenging because you’ve got the doctor’s office, and you’ve got the main living room, the sitting room. You see both of them throughout the whole show. It’s part of the consideration for how we design the set and how the show is blocked. With our theater, that’s one of the things that we’re really proud of. We love to do surprising things in our small space. We’ve gotten good at it over the years. We’ve had everything from a car, to a garbage truck, to a forest,” Kruse Craig said.
Kruse Craig said that costumes can be difficult with period pieces. In the show, the women wear multiple layers, including corsets, chemises and pantaloons.
The men also wear multiple layers, including suit jackets and pants, shirts, vests and hats.
They had to make sure certain pieces, such as underwear, were period accurate.
“If somebody’s going to remove something, it has to look as if it’s from the period. Everything has to be considered. Do we take liberties a little bit? Of course because you’re not going to find something that is absolutely from the 1800s. We try to get as close as we possibly can to be historically accurate,” Kruse Craig.
Through Catherine Givings, the show explores how having a baby can impact a woman’s physical, mental and emotional well-being.
“It’s really about this young mother who is the wife of Dr. Givings. She’s feeling incredibly distant from herself. She’s just given birth. She’s having problems nursing her baby. Her milk really hasn’t come in, so they hire a wet nurse. Her husband’s very technical and very scientific, and she’s feeling distant from him. She doesn’t feel like she’s a good mother. These women keep coming into his office and leaving very happy and in the bloom of health, and she’s hearing these noises from the next room. She’s wondering, ‘How can I get in on some of that? What is it about me? Why won’t you connect with me?’” Kruse Craig said. “Her real desire is to connect with her husband. The play is relevant in terms of in the dawn of all of the developments of artificial intelligence and all of the devices we have doing our work for us, can that really substitute for human connection? Can anything really take the place of having a human being to connect with, whether that’s on an intimate basis or whether that’s as a friend? Where do we go for comfort?”
The show has very emotional as well as funny moments.
“It makes you think. It makes you laugh. It really is very touching at times, and that’s the sign of a really good play… It’s a little daring. It’s smart, and it represents all the things that Invisible Theatre is really proud that we do…. I feel like it’s a good representation of the kinds of work we like to present at our theater because it’s an excellent piece of literature. It’s funny. It’s thought-provoking, and it will inspire conversation,” Kruse Craig.
The show highlights women of different backgrounds and circumstances.
Annie, Dr. Giving’s midwife assistant, is an unmarried woman in her 30s who is considered a “spinster” by others in society.
Elizabeth, the wet nurse, is an African-American woman hired by the Givings to breastfeed their baby. She also takes on the role of an educator for other women in the show.
“Elizabeth has to school the other women on what you feel when you actually have an intimate connection with your husband. That part of it is really interesting in terms of female companionship and the women being completely out of touch with how to connect intimately with their own husbands,” Kruse Craig said.
Invisible Theatre’s production of ‘In the Next Room (Or the Vibrator Play)’
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 13 through Sunday, Sept. 27. Previews Sept. 13 and 15, opening night Wednesday, Sept. 16
WHERE: Invisible Theatre, 1400 N. 1st Avenue, Tucson
COST: $25 general admission and $20 for seniors for previews, $45 general admissions and $40 for seniors for other performances
INFO: invisibletheatre.com
