In The Next Room

Just finished reading In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) by Sara Ruhl.

I've read a couple of other plays by Ruhl, and admired her gift for creating interesting situations and meaning-laden dialogue, but this is the first time I really liked an ending in one of her plays.

As Wikipedia dryly describes the play:

It concerns the early history of the vibrator, when doctors used it as a clinical device to bring women to orgasm as treatment for "hysteria." Other themes include Victorian ignorance of female sexual desire, motherhood and breastfeeding, and jealousy.

The play might be regarded as R-rated by many, but I would say that Ruhl works hard to avoid being too "sexy" in a modern way, despite the subject matter. She keeps the primary focus on the characters' thought and emotions as they struggle to understand the situation they have stumbled into. She maintains a brisk pace and a lightly ironic air throughout the play. The language of the play sounds charmingly antiquated, but never interferes with understanding.

I took my time getting around to reading this play, because I was worried it would disappoint.

But in my judgment it does
live up to its buzz.