In the Next Room

In the Victorian era, just after the birth of the electric lightbulb, a novel remedy was developed for women diagnosed with a mysterious ailment called "hysteria." In 2010, Sarah Ruhl wrote In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) about a doctor who specialized in these treatments. Director Henry Schvey, professor of drama and comparative literature, talks about the power of attraction and the lure of technology within this comic play, which opens April 19 at Washington University's Edison Theatre.