In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play

Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play is a deliciously subversive work that skilfully shines a light on a time in history when female empowerment was still a small rumble but soon they are about to take matters in their own hands.

Set in New York during great technological advancements, Catherine Givings is grappling with the demands of a newborn, a body that won’t produce milk to allow her to connect to the child, a distant and secretive husband and crushing loneliness as she realises that marriage and motherhood might not be as fulfilling as she was lead to believe.

Ruhl’s writing is sharp and full of cheeky wit – subtly using comedy to draw in the audience and peel back the layers of crippling misogyny that women have had inflected upon them.

Ruhl very much subscribes to show don’t tell with her writing, allowing each character to fully flesh out their deep emotional vulnerabilities and relatable needs and desires.

Emma Whitehead’s direction unfortunately never wholly embraces the social issues that underpin the comedy of the work, rather the characters remain in a world that is sadly surface based and lacks the balance between comedy and drama that the work needs.

Sarah Greenwood is perfectly cast as Catherine Givings, embodying the deep pain of her character’s unfulfilled motherhood with the joy and excitement of discovering her true sense of self and purpose.

Lisa Kelly and Alyona Popova respectfully provide the comedic relief and emotional grounding of the work, with each performer stealing the show with moments of great humour and intense stoic courage.

Lewis McLeod, Ruva Shoko, Riley Thomas and Luke Visentin round out the rest of the ensemble with each embodying the unique qualities of their characters but each are let down by the lack of focused direction.

Tom Bannerman’s set design gives the world the detail of time and place and Hugo Fraser’s costume designs perfectly capture the status and standing of the characters on stage.

It would be hard to believe audiences not enjoying this production, packed with humour, heart and history, this is another must see from the New Theatre.