November 22, 2009

Broadway review roundup for Ruhl's new 'Vibrator' play

The critics were abuzz with double-entendre options offered up by the Broadway opening of “In the Next Room or the vibrator play.” Predictably, they don’t all assume the same position.

Set in upstate New York in the 1880s, Sarah Ruhl’s new play stars Michael Cerveris as a doctor who treats women with “hysteria” with a new vibrating eletric medical device that when inserted produced (yet more double entendres.) Laura Benanti plays the doctor’s wife, wondering why he can solve other women’ problems, but not hers. The play, staged by Lincoln Center Theater, is directed by Les Waters.

Tickets for “In the Next Room or the vibrator play” are on sale through Jan. 10 at the Lyceum Theater, 149 W. 45th St., map. Regular tickets are priced $51.50 to $96.50.

Producers advise the show may be inappropriate for children ages 16 and under due to adult language and themes, sexual content and nudity.

The reviews for “In the Next Room” on Broadway:

Post - “It may be the first time we’ve seen characters repeatedly reach orgasm on a mainstream stage — in a Lincoln Center Theater production, no less — and it happens in a play that’s smart, delicate and very, very funny.”

New York Times - “Female sexual pleasure is so far from the mind of the average 19th-century man that he cannot recognize its display even when it is taking place literally beneath his nose. But the ideas underpinning the play, about the fundamental lack of sympathy between men and women of the period, and the dubious scientific theories that sometimes reinforced women’s subjugation, are serious. ‘In the Next Room’ illuminates with a light touch — a soft, flickering light rather than a moralizing glare — how much control men had over women’s lives, bodies and thoughts, even their most intimate sensations.”

Variety - “While the signature 19th century ailment being treated is ‘hysteria,’ the chief weakness is the bipolar disorder of the inconsistent second act, which shifts uncertainly between serious developments and the more farcical business of romantic cross-currents. But there are so many lingering moments of emotional truth, and even more of daring comedy, that the play amuses and charms even if it doesn’t quite satisfy.”

Bloomberg - “Sarah Ruhl, whose previous work I execrated, has written a smart, charming, iridescently funny-serious jewel, ‘In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play.’”

Wall Street Journal - “Sarah Ruhl writes retchingly coy plays that pretend to be transgressive — a sure-fire recipe for success of a sort. ‘In the Next Room or the vibrator play’ (trendy capitalization and punctuation by Ms. Ruhl, not me) is an all-too-typical example of her method.”

NY1 - “Moment to moment, given the novelty of the topic and Les Waters’s first-class production on that beautifully detailed set, one can almost excuse the flaws. All the performances are strong as well, though Laura Benanti’s contemporary line readings sound jarringly out of place.”

USA Today - “By turns deftly farcical and deeply poignant, ‘In the Next Room’ raises questions that transcend gender and, for that matter, time.”

Daily News - “The merriment ceases in the second half, larded down by so many themes concerning life, light, love, lactation, lesbianism - and that’s just the L words.”

Hollywood Reporter - “The play, which premiered at the Berkeley Rep, has been given a pitch-perfect Broadway staging that beautifully balances its humor and pathos. Under the sensitive direction of Les Waters, the ensemble delivers sterling performances, with Benanti a particular delight as the woman for whom electricity turns out to be a marriage saver.”

Associated Press - “This provocative, often quite funny play, which Lincoln Center Theater opened Thursday at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre, is Ruhl’s most entertaining work to date.”

Time Out - “This premise could easily devolve into a silly sex farce or a strident feminist critique; in fact, Ruhl samples from both without becoming indebted to either.”

Newsday - “The comedy is more substantial and less self-consciously whimsical than the three previous Sarah Ruhl plays that also have been luxuriously produced in New York in the past three years. But I still wish I understood the appeal.”

Steve on Broadway - “On a side note, one aspect of this production that was particularly infuriating for me were the extremely poor sight-lines from my left orchestra seat. … For this, I not only fault director Les Waters’ blocking of his actors, but also Annie Smart’s less than ingenious scenic design that separated the two time appropriate rooms from each other.”

New York magazine - “She brings the night’s proceedings in for a soft landing, and we leave with the sense that In the Next Room may be diddling itself. But who cares? A little onanism never hurt anyone. Ruhl’s a great intellect, a true entertainer, an authoritative American voice that Broadway desperately needs. Let her milk it a little.”

Related: Playbill’s opening night picture coverage.
See more reviews at Critic-O-Meter.

Image source: Lincoln Center Theater.

November 22, 2009 3:59 PM in Broadway, Midtown

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