In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) 08/09

2008–09 season > In the Next Room

written by sarah ruhl
directed by les waters
main season | roda theatre
january 30–march 15, 2009
world premiere

Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes,
including one 15 minute intermission

the play

Join us for the world premiere of In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), written by Sarah Ruhl and staged by Les Waters. Last time these two extraordinary talents teamed up at Berkeley Rep, they gave birth to Eurydice, the beguiling show which went on to New Haven and New York—hitting the year’s Top 10 list in Time magazine and the New York Times. Now the prominent pair reunites to consummate another play of love and longing, commissioned by Berkeley Rep. In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) illuminates the lives of six lonely people seeking relief from a local doctor—but, despite his expertise with a strange new technology, all they really need is intimacy. It’s a tender tale that takes place in the twilight of the Victorian age, an elegant comedy lit by unexpected sparks from the approaching era of electricity, equality, science and sexuality.

The premiere of this play truly is a milestone for Berkeley Rep, which debuted its first new script in 1968 and went on to earn a national reputation for nurturing writers and developing new work. Known for its core values of innovation and excellence, as well as its educated and adventurous audience, Berkeley Rep provides a safe haven for emerging and established artists to take creative risks. In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) is the company’s 50th world premiere; in fact, since 1990, Berkeley Rep has presented 40 world premieres, 25 West Coast premieres and two American premieres.

the players

Sarah Ruhl is the author of acclaimed plays such as The Clean House, Dead Man’s Cell Phone and Passion Play: A Cycle. The young writer has already earned a MacArthur Fellowship, the Helen Merrill Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, a Whiting Writers’ Award and a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize.

Les Waters won an Obie Award for Big Love and his shows have ranked among the Top 10 Plays of 2007 in Time Magazine, 2006 in the New York Times and 2005 in TimeOut New York. His recent hits here at home include The Glass Menagerie, The Pillowman and TRAGEDY: a tragedy.

the buzz

“Breathtakingly inventive…has the potential to be a modern masterpiece…Directed by Les Waters in a manner that quietly and vividly serves the writing, the play is at its best when it disregards the dramatic rules altogether. There’s an acute playfulness at work, an unabashed enjoyment in letting characters test out new possibilities for themselves as they gain insight into the mind-body phenomenon of human sexuality and the oppressive forces that shape its expression.”—Los Angeles Times

“A fascinating, funny and evocative play…The disconnect between sensory experience and mental perception forms the tantalizing heart of Ruhl’s latest…Ruhl develops the story with the enticing blend of irreverent humor and skewed realism…It’s beautiful. Like most of the play, the end vibrates with sexually charged comedy and affectionate striving.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“A titillating comedy of manners, marriage and masturbation that more than lives up to its buzz…From orgasms and breast-feeding to lesbianism, Ruhl disentangles the web of taboos that laced up Victorian ladies as tightly as their whalebone corsets. Annie Smart’s set captures the prissiness and confinement of the parlor where women’s bodies were hidden under so many layers of taffeta and fear, they needed a strange new gizmo to discover themselves…Talk about good vibrations.”—San Jose Mercury News

“You’ll get a charge out of Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Vibrator Play…Crackling dialogue and an engaging story that moves audience both to laughter and tears, and a fresh and delightful look at the dark ages of human sexuality…Les Waters has directed the show masterfully, creating some wild moments of physical humor and an energy to the unfolding story that refuses to let things lag. And the cast is simply phenomenal.”—Bay Area News Group

“This serenely funny new work by the author of Eurydice and The Clean House sparkles with wit and invention in Les Waters’ pitch-perfect production.”—Variety

“A sexual farce that cleverly concerns the romance, loneliness, intimacy, race relations and electricity of six people…The cast of seven excellent actors has a great sense for comedy…It’s brilliantly directed by Les Waters and has wonderful lighting, sound and costumes, and a remarkable set. In the world of theatre, this is truly an enjoyable change of pace.”—KGO-AM

“The magical closing minutes of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)—a wonderful excursus on modern love and sex toys in disguise—made even me a little misty-eyed. It’s like watching the perfectly executed dismount of an Olympian gymnast: all the tricks of stagecraft are employed, but with such judiciousness and precision that they appear to be some sort of divine intervention. Take your sweetheart, or find one in the lobby during intermission. You’ll want a hand to hold.”—Flavorpill