Auditions for In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Baleigh Almond, are being held THIS WEEKEND on
Saturday September 17 at 10am, and Sunday September 18 at 6pm.
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, is a comedy about marriage, intimacy, and electricity.
Set in the 1880s 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 and how his new therapy affects their entire household.
In a seemingly perfect, well-to-do Victorian home, proper gentleman and scientist Dr. Givings has innocently invented an extraordinary new device for treating “hysteria” in women (and occasionally men): the vibrator. Adjacent to the doctor’s laboratory, his young and energetic wife tries to tend to their newborn daughter—and wonders exactly what is going on in the next room. When a new “hysterical” patient and her husband bring a wet nurse and their own complicated relationship into the doctor’s home, Dr. and Mrs. Givings must examine the nature of their own marriage, and what it truly means to love someone.
For this production, we need female piano players for the character of Sabrina, and well as African American women for the character of Elizabeth.
CHARACTERS
Dr. Givings – male, 30s-40s. A gynecologist that specializes in treating hysteria. Analytical, cold, but kind.
Catherine Givings – female, late 20s. Dr. Givings wife and mother to their newborn baby girl. Charismatic and a little chaotic. Romantic and unfulfilled.
Sabrina Daldry – female, 20-30s. Dr. Givings’ new patient. Suffers from deep depression. Plays the piano.
Annie – female, 30s-40s. Dr. Givings’ midwife assistant. Quiet and kind.
Leo Irving – male, 20s-30s. Another patient. A romantic and eloquent painter from England.
Elizabeth – African American female, 20s-30s. The Givings’ wet nurse. Polite and reserved. Just lost her baby.
Mr. Daldry – male, 40s-50s. Sabrina’s husband. Unhappy in his marriage and somewhat forward.
We look forward to seeing new and familiar faces at auditions this weekend!
