Yep. You read that right: the Vibrator Play. If you’re anything like the Uber driver we booked for the trip home after catching the opening night of Repertory Philippines’ latest show, your interest is piqued.
I feel like I should give a quick run down of the possible questions you might have about said play:
Is it really about vibrators? Yes and no. Yes, there vibrators in the play but no, the story does not completely revolve around them.
Does anybody get naked? Yes.
Is it kid friendly? Uh, this is a hard no. I remember seeing a sign at the entrance about the play being only for sixteen year olds and above – although I might be wrong since I just glanced at it as I was buying tickets – so I’d stick to that rule.
How do they make it work??? Well, you’ll just have to see for yourself.
Directed by Chris Millado, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play is the third show of Repertory Philippines’ eightieth season. I’ve been seeing the teaser poster floating around for a few weeks now and was very much determined to watch one of Rep’s comedies. The cast was also a big draw because I’ve seen most of them before in comedies and I’ve always had a good time. Luckily for me, N and C were very willing to move their schedules around so we can all catch the opening show together – that in itself was an experience: the audience was mainly made up of the media and there was an interview with the cast and director after the show.
When Mr. Daldry (Hans Eckstein) brings his wife Sabrina (Caisa Borromeo) to the house of Dr. Givings (Joshua Spafford), he is hoping that the good doctor and his midwife assistant Annie (Tami Monsod) can cure his wife’s depression-like symptoms. The good doctor has an invention that can bring forth ‘paroxysms’ in the woman’s body so that the ‘excess juices in the womb’ can be released and the symptoms can be relieved. Dr. Giving’s wife Catherine (Giannina Ocampo), however, is suffering difficult symptoms of her own. She has reservations about employing Elizabeth, a lower class wet-nurse who recently lost her child to disease, but fears that there might be no other choice. Catherine is also craving intimacy from her husband but he seems to be too fixated on his work to take notice of her. When artist Leo Irving (Jef Flores) arrives at their doorstep, she plans to take full advantage.
The story is pretty complex, but it helps if you remind yourself that the setting is the late 19th century America and the values and norms back then were completely different to what we have now. It was a time when most of women’s concerns were actively suppressed to prevent being ‘inappropriate’ and men actively put themselves in the position of having Male Privilege. It was also a time of invention and innovativeness and this proves to be a funny but dangerous mix as men do have the tendency to come up with ‘machinations’ that could ‘fix’ womanly ‘ailments’.
It’s a good show and a funny one at that, with all of the actors being excellent in their given roles. Even without the risqué stuff, the story itself is still pretty interesting because it strives to dig deep and find out how to gap the distance between the genders. At least I think that’s how I interpreted it.
In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play will run until April 23 at the Onstage Theater in Greenbelt 1. Tickets are available at their Ticketworld page or you can book them directly through Repertory Philippines’ Facebook page.
