The invention of vibrators...

What’s in a name? Probably some erotica, as the name is “The Vibrator Play”. Unquestionably the play lives up to its name, with a certain amount of overt sexual content. But In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play is also much, much more than a bawdy comedy or theatrical pornography. American playwright Sarah Ruhl has created a piece that deals with the most intimate of human relationships: husband and wife, doctor and patient, woman and confidante, mother and child, man and woman. The starting point of the drama is the 19th century practice of treating women with hysteria with a ‘pelvic massage’, a tiring and time-consuming medical massage (known to you and me as masturbation), which resulted in a ‘hysterical paroxysm’ (that’s an orgasm), thus relieving the patient’s symptoms. In case you’re wondering, this treatment is no longer available on the NHS.

Towards the end of the 19th century, when this play is based, electrically powered instruments were developed to help achieve this paroxysm in less time – and yes, I’m talking about the invention of the vibrator.

Ruhl uses this rather amusing premise to kick start her piece; Dr. Givings is a renowned New York doctor who treats patients for hysteria, helped by his no-nonsense nurse Annie. Meanwhile, as the patients come and go, his wife Catherine sits downstairs fretting about her baby, who she cannot feed sufficiently for lack of breast milk.

The next room, the doctor’s examination room, is the real keystone of this performance. Not only is the stage brilliantly set up in a two tiers, so that the public can follow the action in both rooms at the same time, but the physical space represents the emotional content that the play is centered around. The concept of a next room highlights the female condition in a male-dominated society, in which the action happens in another room, above the heads of the women, who are left waiting outside closed doors. The next room is what Dr. Givings closes himself into to escape from his marital tensions, where he devotes time to his female patients while his unhappy wife waits outside, lonely.

The other characters weave in and out of this wife-husband relationship, with a progressively chirpier Mrs. Daldry coming in for regular treatment with her overbearing husband, the self-centered, heartbroken, English artist coming in to be treated for “a rare case of male hysteria”, and the black wet nurse Elizabeth, who visits regularly to compensate for Catherine’s lack of milk. These characters intertwine, creating a complex web of interpersonal relationships, by turns comic, touching and shocking.

The two female leads, Catherine (Natalie Casey) and Mrs. Daldry (Flora Montgomery) are truly captivating characters from the very first scene, drawing the audience into the chaotic Givings household and making up for the sometimes shakier performance of the other cast members. The second act picks up considerably, with the whole cast showing a remarkable talent and turning the piece into a far more vivid, real performance than what the first act achieved. As the curtains close on a romantic, snowy embrace you might even find yourself shedding a tear or two.

In The Next Room encompasses comedy, emotion, sex, scientific innovation, race, history, gender relations and mental health issues. But it is not just a list of buzzwords: it’s a truly moving, thought provoking piece that deals with human relationships at their rawest.