A Satisfying Vibrator Play

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

What is it with the Lyceum Theatre? The past few shows I've loved there--reasons to be pretty, [title of show], and Is He Dead?--haven't done very well financially and had fairly short runs. I can now add Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room or the vibrator play to that list. Grosses haven't been particularly strong. As a limited Lincoln Center run, it's only scheduled to run through January, but I hope its able to find an audience.

The play takes place in the late 1800s. Dr. Givings (Michael Cerveris) uses vibrator therapy to treat his patients (both male and female) for hysteria. His wife, the childlike Mrs. Givings (a delightful Laura Benanti) is suffering because she cannot nurse her baby and they hire a wet nurse, Elizabeth (Quincy Tyler Bernstine). I went in expecting to laugh a lot, and I did--the comedy stemming from Dr. Givings ignorance about the pleasures of vibrator therapy is very funny--but I wasn't expecting so many tender moments as the love story between Dr. Givings and his wife takes front and center. Director Les Waters seamlessly balances the different tones as does the cast.

In a play subtitled the vibrator play, it is fitting that the ending is perfectly satisfying. Annie Smart's sets are stripped away, leaving the actors in a snow-covered garden, in a moment of unexpected beauty.

Note: I was invited to see this play for free.