Ustinov Studio to Present IN THE NEXT ROOM, Opening May 10

Laurence Boswell directs the UK Premiere of In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl, the concluding play in the Ustinov Studio's American Season.

In a spa town in New York in the late 19th century enthusiasm for the new electric light bulb is spreading through the homes of the well-to-do citizens. Young Dr Givings is obsessed with the marvels of technology and has been working with a handy new device, a strange electric powered box set up in his operating theatre to treat female hysteria. Dr Givings' first patient emerges from her first session beaming and keen to return for further treatment. But while the good doctor is blithely administering to his patients, his wife, Catherine, a new mother, is left feeling lonely and left out and forced to take matters into her own hands.

Based in historical fact, In The Next Room is a provocative, funny, touching, entertaining story about sex, intimacy and equality, originally nominated for three 2010 Tony Awards including Best Play. It contains scenes of an adult nature.

The cast features Paul Hickey as Dr. Givings (Bang Bang Bang, Royal Court; Ghosts, Arcola) and Katie Lightfoot as Catherine Givings (Speechless, Shared Experience; Henry IV (Parts I&II), Theatre Royal Bath); with Flora Montgomery (The Heart of Robin Hood, RSC; The Good Soldier, Theatre Royal Bath); Tom Hodgkins (Decade, Headlong Theatre; Bus Stop, New Victoria Theatre); Lucy Robinson (Cause Célèbre, Old Vic Theatre Company; Blithe Spirit, Nottingham Playhouse), Rakie Ayola (Sixty-Six Books, Bush Theatre; Welcome to Thebes, National) and Edward Bennett (Lovesong, Frantic Assembly; Plenty, Sheffield Crucible).

LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath BA1 1ET
Dates: 10th May – 9th June
Times: Evenings 7.45pm (Wednesday 16th May, 7pm), Matinees Thursdays & Saturdays (not 10th May) 2.30pm
Box Office: 01225 448844/ www.theatreroyal.org.uk/ustinov
Tickets: £19.50 / £14.50