Texas Tech University’s Department of Theatre & Dance presents In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) by Sarah Ruhl February 2 through 8 in the Maedgen Lab Theatre, located at 2812 18th Street between Boston and Flint Avenues. Curtain times for the 2014-2015 Lab Theatre season are 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Set in upstate New York at the “dawn of the age of electricity,” In the Next Room depicts the history of the newly invented vibrator as a clinical treatment for female hysteria. As Dr. Giving administers to his patients behind closed doors, his wife, Catherine, is left to wonder what the buzz is all about. Simultaneously playful and honest, this minimally designed award-winning play questions and criticizes the patriarchal norms that confined women in a way that not only kept them “in the next room,” but also tightly controlled their most intimate experiences.
When asked about why she was excited to bring In the Next Room to the Maegden Lab Theatre Director Kristen Rogers said, “I think Sarah Ruhl is one of our most interesting contemporary playwrights, and this particular work is fascinating in its investigation of expectations and conventions. It is undoubtedly funny and entertaining, but also bravely tackles serious issues like gender equality and sexuality and the way they impact relationships.”
WARNING: Adult content and nudity.
Tickets for In the Next Room are $10 for individuals and $5 for students with a valid student ID. A limited number of free student rush tickets are available for Texas Tech Students. For more information please call the Maedgen Theatre box office at (806) 742-3603.
