In the Next Room, or the vibrator play at Atwater Playhouse

In the Next Room, or the vibrator play

Atwater Playhouse
3191 Casitas Ave Los Angeles

Sarah Ruhl's effervescent comedy about sex, intimacy and equality set in the 1880s - when enthusiasm for the electric light bulb gave rise to a handy new instrument to treat female hysteria.

Presented by Open Fist Theatre Company

Thru - May 7, 2022

Fridays: 8:00pm

Saturdays: 8:00pm

Sundays: 6:00pm

Show Type: Comedy

Box Office: 323-556-1636

www.openfist.org

In the Next Room, or the vibrator play Reviews

Average Rating based on 7 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended

"...Open Fist Theatre Company scores another hit with Sarah Ruhl,s In The Next Room (or the vibrator play), the sparklingly provocative, unexpectedly touching 2010 Best Play Tony nominee that gave the award-winning playwright her first Broadway credit."

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- Steven Stanley

ArtsInLA - Somewhat Recommended

"...Director Lane Allison serves the play well in that the performances she gets from her cast are detailed and three-dimensional, and all the themes in Ruhl’s writing are illuminated clearly. Jan Munroe’s set is handsome and effective, and Mylette Nora’s costumes are impressively lush. Ruhl’s writing is smart and entertaining, if perhaps more effective at the more amusing aspects of the show than the tragic ones. Overall this is a very fine production, except that Allison has seemingly paced it to lengthen the scenes for dramatic effect, which drags the runtime out to three hours, which feels too long for this play."

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- Terry Morgan

On Stage Los Angeles - Recommended

"...There is something to be said for heading back in time with Sarah Ruhl to examine life in the United States over a hundred years ago. The subtitle of the piece pretty much says it all."

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- Sheehan

Gia on the Move - Somewhat Recommended

"...IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY does have its hysterical, delicious and somber reality moments. Directionally it's uneven and the ensemble cast seems to not quite understand how to deliver on the complexity of seriocomedy (a la The Bird Cage, for instance). Nevertheless, it is fun and a refreshing divertissement."

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- Tracey Paleo

Showmag - Recommended

"...Some critics have decried the fact that Ruhl has not tackled non-binary or trans-gendered sexuality in this play. Instead, I take her play as a way for us to realize how much has changed in our understanding of sexuality in the last 100 years or more. Open Fist’s pretty production demonstrates that we have, indeed, come a long way!"

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- Leigh Kennicott

Stage Raw - Recommended

"...While the script may not excel at intersectional feminism, the 2009 play does still bring up important themes. Dr. Givings (Spencer Cantrell) is a white man in a position of authority, sterilely administering pleasure to women on his own terms. In so doing, he is actually robbing himself of the kind of sexual satisfaction that he yearns for, getting his kicks only through Freudian sublimation. At the same time, he helps to reinforce a Puritanical patriarchy."

- V Cate

Theatre Notes - Highly Recommended

"...Sarah Ruhl’s 2009 play, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, debuted at Berkeley Rep, then moved on to Broadway where it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and three nominations for the Tony Awards. It has since been produced multiple times in the United States and around the world. And now, Open Fist has offered up the play, which is impeccably produced and boasts a sterling cast of first rate performers."

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- Paul Myrvold

In the Next Room, or the vibrator play at Atwater Playhouse