Lincoln Center Theater's production of IN THE NEXT ROOM or the vibrator play, a new play by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Les Waters, will open on Thursday (November 19) at the Lyceum Theater (149 West 45 Street). The cast features Laura Benanti, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Michael Cerveris, Maria Dizzia, Thomas Jay Ryan, Wendy Rich Stetson, and Chandler Williams.
IN THE NEXT ROOM or the vibrator play, which had its world premiere this past winter at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, is a comedy about marriage, intimacy and electricity. Set at the dawn of the age of electricity and based on the bizarre historical fact that doctors used vibrators to treat "hysterical" women (and some men), the play centers on a doctor and his wife (Laura Benanti and Michael Cerveris) and how his new therapy affects their entire household. The production has sets by Annie Smart, costumes by David Zinn, lighting by Russell Champa, sound by Bray Poor and original music by Jonathan Bell. Sarah Ruhl returns to Lincoln Center Theater where she made her New York debut with her play The Clean House. Her other plays include Dead Man's Cell Phone, Demeter in the City, Eurydice, Late: a cowboy song, Melancholy Play, Orlando and Passion Play: a cycle. Her work has also been produced in New York at Playwrights Horizons and Second Stage and nationally at many theaters including the Goodman, Yale Rep, the Woolly Mammoth and The Berkeley Rep where In the Next Room premiered earlier this year. Les Waters, an Obie Award winning director, is the associate artistic director of Berkeley Rep. His New York credits include productions at BAM, Manhattan Theatre Club, CSC, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, Second Stage Theater and Signature Theatre Company.Photo credit: Joan Marcus
Michael Cerveris and Laura Benanti
Maria Dizzia, Thomas Jay Ryan, Wendy Rich Stetson and Michael Cerveris
Chandler Williams and Laura Benanti
Quincy Tyler Bernstine and Laura Benati