Madeline Byrd (Catherine Givings), Alexandra Guyker (Mrs. Daldry), and Cal Whitehurst (Mr. Daldry) in rehearsal for Port City Playhouse’s production of “In the Next Room.” Photo Contributed
Port City Playhouse will present Sarah Ruhl’s “In the Next Room,” a comedic examination of sexual repression in the Victorian era, Nov. 7 to 22. The comedy centers on Dr. Givings, an enlightened physician in late 19th century New York, who has developed a new, electric-powered device to treat the “hysteria” of his female patients brought on by sexual frustration. It takes the doctor a while to realize that his wife is suffering from a similar complaint and that treatment sometimes requires the human touch.
Director Mary Ayala-Bush said even though the play is a period piece, it has relevance to the current day. “I wanted to make the show both a statement of the fact that it occurs at the dawn of the 20th century but that with very little change could be a statement of our current direction as a society that is increasingly relying on technology for its emotional fulfillment,” she said.
She said because the subject matter is about love and sex, it's both provocative and extremely funny in the circumstances that are presented. “It would be very easy to turn the show into a farce, but it would lose so much of the nuance related to the back stories of the various characters,” she said.
She said the play shows how we can lose our humanity if we rely on technology for our fulfillment. “Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, texting, are all beneficial tools, but in the end they are poor substitutes for face-to-face engagement,” she said.
Will MacLeod is playing the role of Dr. Givings, a scientist obsessed with electricity and medicine. “He’s purely interested in the scientific side of his invention, and doesn't seem to make the connection between the direct physical effects that his treatments are having and the personal and emotional effects that they will have on his patients,” he said.
He said, “The biggest challenges have involved getting the giggles out in rehearsals, because, obviously, this is a pretty funny and awkward subject matter, but Dr. Givings wouldn't really understand why any of this would be funny and wouldn't laugh at any of it.”
Madeline Byrd plays the role of his charming wife, Mrs. Givings, who is driven to seek the company of the visitors to her home, including her husband’s patients. “Her curiosity about her husband's work and the treatments he provides ‘in the next room’ ultimately leads to her discovery and understanding of love,” she said.
She added, “This play has many moments of hilarity in the midst of a complex and layered story of love, loss and what it means to be truly connected to someone.”
“Audiences will laugh, they will cry, and hopefully they will leave the theatre with a new appreciation of what it means to love and be loved,” Byrd said.
Kelly L. Moran plays the role of Annie, the nurse/midwife. “She supports Dr. Givings with his numerous ‘hysteria’ patients and in his constant quest for bigger and better machines to hasten the work. If the good doctor wants 100 feet of copper pipe, Annie rushes right out to get it,” she said.
“The play is a little naughty and risqué, with the audience as voyeur to some intimate moments — but funny moments,” Moran said.
Kadira Coley plays the role of Elizabeth, the housekeeper for the Daldrys and the wet nurse for the Givings. “Throughout the play you see Elizabeth's struggle with recently losing her son while nursing someone else's child,” she said.
She added, “The play is hilarious and I think our audiences will be in stitches for the majority of the evening. But I also hope that the audience will take away the special journey that each of the characters in the play experiences throughout the play.”
Cal Whitehurst plays the role of Mr. Daldry, a well-to-do, middle-aged man married to a younger woman. “In sexual matters he is very Victorian, believing that nice women are too pure at heart to enjoy relations with their husbands, so he makes sure his wife doesn’t enjoy them by getting the business done as quickly as possible,” he said. “He fails to see the connection between this behavior and his wife’s unhappiness.”
The challenge, he said, was “portraying a man who loves his wife but cannot bring himself to discover the source of her unhappiness — and whose lack of passion for his wife leads him to a one-sided flirtation with the pretty, high-spirited and somewhat eccentric Mrs. Givings.”
He said, “The moral of the story is that while sexual fulfillment is vital to the happiness of a romantic relationship, sex without romance is just a matter of mechanics.”
Producer Alan Wray added, “What's not to like about a comedy and something that updates the ideas from the Restoration Drawing Room Comedy. I hope that the audience can walk away being able to laugh and feel they've had a fun evening.”
Performances for “In the Next Room” are Friday-Saturday, Nov. 7-8, 14-15 and 21-22, and Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m., with matinees on Saturday, Nov. 15 and 22, at 2 p.m. Port City Playhouse performs at 1819 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA 22302, just east of I-395 at the Shirlington exit, at the corner of Crestwood Drive and Quaker Lane. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, military and students, and $14 for groups of 10 or more.