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It’s 1883 and electricity is changing the world, from the spectacle of electrocuting an elephant to the shocking ability to create light without fire.

“Pure light,” marvels Catherine Givings, as she turns a small lamp on and off, “straight from man’s imagination to our living room.”

Beyond providing light without the need for candles, electricity is changing the medical profession. Mrs. Givings’ husband specializes in treating women suffering from hysteria, anxiety and sadness. For this, Dr. Givings utilizes a new medical device called a vibrator, and, from his office inside their home, gives his patients a glowing release.

Sarah Ruhl’s In The Next Room or the vibrator play, which opened this weekend at the Warehouse Theatre, concerns itself with the connections made possible by this new device, as well as the possibility that the real spark, the real fire, will always exist in the genuine connection of two people in love.

Director Kerrie Seymour gives her strong cast a safe space to be honest and exposed and, often, quite funny, as they navigate a world of pent up emotion – physically represented by Kendra Johnson’s gorgeously layered costumes – and changing sexual politics.

Read more of this Greenville News review by Neil Shurley HERE.

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