Clayton Gerrard as the doctor specializing in hysterical disorders is quizzed by Molly Casey as his inquisitive wife.
Anyone who though that just having the next iPhone upgrade will bring new harmony, adventure and status to their life and were disappointed should find a resonance in Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play at the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center.
The play is set in Ruhl’s own version of the 1880s. “It’s the dawn of the age of electricity and people believe that it will make them happier and better,” says director Dale McFadden. “The vibrator itself is used to cure what was called ‘hysteria’ in women and in men. “
McFadden goes on to say that,” Ruhl has cleverly set her play in a time where we accept her approach to issues that we might dismiss in a more modern setting. The device and electricity itself doesn’t cure life, doesn’t solve our problems and really the play is about the search for love and intimacy”
Actor Molly Casey is appearing in her second Sarah Ruhl play. She was featured in the earlier The Clean House. She echoes McFadden about Ruhl’s theme. “I think that in both plays she’s really searching for the purist definition of romantic love.”
Casey describes the language of both plays as a delight and a challenge. “She writes beautifully in a poetic style that very nice to speak. The challenge is to avoid simply being caught up in the flow and not looking into the intention. “
