Lena and I went last night to see a play. Theater is not one of our most common indulgences but we both love plays and so we decided to go for Valentine's Day.
We went to see a play entitled, "In the Next Room" or "The Vibrator Play." It was so amazingly acted, hilarious, attention-grabbing... all that. Fantastic play.
A little history... "hysteria" was once the term used to refer to what was... wrong with... women experiencing bouts of emotion, nervousness, hallucinations, irrational behavior, or having strong sexual desires. Doctors in the late 1800's attributed these female maladies to problems based in women's reproductive systems. (From which, over time, developed into the term "hysterectomy" for when a woman's uterus is removed.) (little side-nugget of information there...) Something about hysteria being caused by fluid retention in a woman's reproductive organs and a need for release of such fluids. (Yes, it's what you think! LOL)
From https://allthatsinteresting.com/female-hysteria:
"By the 1800s women were increasingly diagnosed with hysteria, the treatment for which was a hysterical paroxysm. Today, we call that an orgasm."
Hence, "or the Vibrator Play"
Mrs. Catherine Givings (Megan Barrios) and Mrs. Daldry (Courtney Murphy)
From http://theatrebr.org/inthenextroom.html about the play we saw:
"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."
Dr. Givens (Knick Moore) and Mrs. Givens
They really, really made it hilarious! The play was not at all indecent, though not something one might bring their children along to see.
So we're settled in, laughing along with this crazy-but-somewhat-relateable play... and we hear from the far right side of the audience,"B, are you here? Are you ok? B?? HEY!! SOMEBODY CALL 911!!!"
When the audience kind of "awoke" and realized this was real and was NOT a part of the play, people sprang into action. A doctor in the audience went over to care for the man on the floor. I heard from somewhere behind me, "Yes, we have a man who is non-responsive.... looks to be in his late 50's... we're in the Baton Rouge Little Theater, behind Bon Marche Mall."
So they got the guy to wake up... I think he had stopped breathing or something... sat him on a chair, put another chair in front of him to elevate his feet. At this point all the house lights are on and everyone is looking at their spouses/friends/whatever with a "Well... what now?" look.
(yeah, pretty much just like that) LOL
I wondered if the play was essentially over... they had this guy sitting up, holding a large, yellow dust pan on a pole.... under his chin, in case he... puked? I didn't know. I turned to Lena and said something to the effect of, "I guess we're supposed to... wait? For the EMT's to arrive, come IN here, check on this guy and... wheel him out?"
And that was exactly what happened. I saw several pairs of people get up and leave while the EMT folks had not yet arrived. One of the actors came out on stage and said we they would, indeed, continue the play where they had left off when things calmed down again. This was met with chuckles from the crowd and an apology from the guy with his feet up. The actor assured the man there was nothing to be sorry about; things just happen sometimes.
Definitely a play no one there will ever forget! The emergency guys arrived very quickly, checked out the guy's vitals, walked him over to a stretcher where he sat down and was wheeled out. The woman with him was still crying. He seemed fine, just a little unsteady yet as he waved up at the crowd on his way out and said again, "Sorry!:
A few minutes later, the play resumed. I was very impressed with how the actors got right back into character without so much as a hiccup. The play finished as awesomely as it had begun. I leaned over to Lena and said, "Well, happy Valentine's day!"
Surprises come when you least expect them... if I may be a bit redundant!
Here are two scenes from the play that I found online. In my opinion, the cast in these clips does not hold a candle to the talented people we saw performing last night. Louisiana folks just do things BETTER. LOL... But you can see examples of the same play here:
Early Scene
Later Scene
When the play ended, the cast came out and took a bow then stood in a line for everyone to pass and shake hands as we exited. I heard over and over, "Thank you, thank you for staying."
They did a great, great job. Five thumbs up. 👍👍👍👍👍
😅😃😃😃😃😃
HERE is a link to The Advocate's story on the play and information about dates and times, if you might like to see it yourself. Just... without the extra "ER" sideshow clip!
