Good Vibrations ‘In The Next Room’ at San Diego Rep
March 29, 2011
By Carol Davis
Carol Davis
SAN DIEGO–If the snuggly laced corsets, tightly wound up sexual repressions, and freely bouncing bustles tied on to the rear ends of our nineteenth century Victorian sisters conjure up a contradiction in your mind’s eye, so then the apparatus in the good doctor’s home will do the same. It looks like a photographer’s still camera and it cradles a wand looking device with levers protruding from the sides and is kept under wraps by Doctor Givings (Francis Gerckeis a bit too stiff and one dimensional) in his examining room off the living room of his home
The saying “If it looks like a duck, acts like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be a duck” does not hold true with this camera look a like device. It is in fact the new fangled contraption ‘that treated women (some men) with electric vibratory massage to ameliorate the symptoms of hysteria’. That was the nineteenth century definition of well…use your imaginations.
Yup! Sara Ruhl’s 2009 “In The Next Room or the vibrator play” was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama. It had its official Broadway debut in 2009 and was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play and believe it or not, the main subject (of said play) is not roses but vibrators. There is also some information in the program showing the ads tracing the cures for this ‘hysteria’.
While most of the energy in this current production, now being staged at the San Diego Repertory Theatre downtown with direction by artistic director Sam Woodhouse, hones in on the comic side (oft times way over the top) of what’s going on in ‘The Next Room’ a more pressing issue of repression is playing out in the ‘other rooms and bedrooms’ by the women who come to be treated by our good Doctor and that includes his own wife, Catherine (Aubrey Saverino).
Just tell anyone you’re going to see “The Vibrator Play” (and no it’s not “Menopause the Musical”) and they might look at you kinda funny. Ruhl’s play is billed as a comedy so when Sabrina Daldry (Willow Geer) comes clucking into Dr. Givings living room dressed like a blue and yellow peacock (Jennifer Brawn Gittings period costumes are beautifully on target), black gloved hand covering her eyes and prostrate with anxiety and far too many eccentricities you can imagine that the audience breaks out into laughter. She is almost a caricature of her character but she is funny.
Finally when the young gynecologist calms her down by telling her he can help her ailments by relieving the pelvic fluids or ‘paroxysms’’ if only she will undress and let him use his new fangled machine on her. She is cautious but obedient. It is run by electricity, the young doctor explains, (just new on the market and held in awe by Dr. Givings) and has been working well on his other female patients. That convinces our somewhat overcome Sabrina to submit.
The groans and screams of pleasure coming from behind the door peak Catherine’s curiosity and she can’t help but be puzzled. For the moment, though, she is preoccupied with the fact that her breast milk is in short supply and a wet nurse is going to be needed to feed her newborn baby.
As the play unravels and the more satisfied Mrs. Daldry becomes visit after visit, the more we learn how dissatisfied Catherine is with the lack of attention and emotion that her stern and out-of-touch (both literally and figuratively) husband is to her needs. His obsession with the wonders of electricity is a turn-off to her and only exacerbates her anger toward him until finally she begs him to experiment with his new machine on her.
Ruhl’s play, especially in the ‘healing scenes’, titillates as it jockeys back and forth between the revolving door of the doctor’s office, the locked door from the living room to the office and the overlooked, barely talked about women’s concerns of childbirth and lack of warmth from their husbands, particularly, in a world where women were to be seen and not heard.
Besides Catherine, other women in the play, also have their concerns, For Sabrina Daldry it is her overzealous and lusty husband, Mr. Daldry who is at least 25 years older. Dale Morris is the wealthy Daldry who plays goggle eyes with Catherine and his character comes off acting like a dirty old man. For Elizabeth, (Monique Gaffney) the Daldry’s maid and the Givings’ wet nurse it is dealing with the loss of a child. For Annie (Lisel Gorell-Getz ) the doctor’s assistant, well, I’ll save some surprises for you. (Once again Gittings costumes are indicative of the social status of each including Daldry’s).
Not to leave men out of the equation act two brings us a new character, Leo Irving (Brian Mackey is over the top but a riot), a frustrated painter who seems to have lost his creative lens and ability to make love after being dumped by his girlfriend in Paris. Reluctantly at first, Dr Givings treats Leo. However, when the doctor thinks Leo is flirting with his own wife in his own home, he really gives him the treatment with the machine!
Overall the fine cast is more than up to the task under Woodhouse’s direction but the women fare better than the men. Saverino, Geer, Gaffney and Gorell-Getz are women of substance and have their own story to tell and do it well.
My only complaint is that most of the action is played for laughs and is far too over-the-top so that when the scenes between Catherine and her husband gradually wind down to the very sensitive ending; it is at odds with the rest of the play. (A note of caution: There is some nudity in this production)
Victoria Petrovich has designed a beautiful and finely appointed middle-to-upper class Victorian living room and office. Jennifer Setlow’s lighting is perfectly designed to show off the power of electricity especially when the ‘machine’ is on overload. Once again, Ms. Gittings’ costume designs are eye popping and beautifully textured to bring out the complexity of the attire of the day.
