UNCG Theatre's upcoming production of In the Next Room or the vibrator play is set to open on Thursday, October 23 at 7:30 pm in the Brown Building Theatre.  The play is a contemporary comedy by award-winning playwright, Sarah Ruhl.

The performance is directed by UNCG Theatre faculty member, Christine Morris, and boasts a design concept from student designers/coordinators: Nic Benavides, Anna Chambers and Rose Mormino.  The production is stage managed by Samantha Thompson.   

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. As interest surges for the treatment, Dr. and Mrs. Givings must examine the nature of their own marriage and what it truly means to love someone.  This production is intended for mature audiences only due to adult themes and content.

The production also features original music by Bachelor of Music/Music Education student Robert Rankin.  Rankin wrote about his original compositions, "The music I wrote for this production of 'In The Next Room or the vibrator play' really belongs to the two different rooms, the operating room and the living room of the Givings' household. All of the musical material for both of these rooms comes from four chords from the second movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto (1903). Even though the raw musical materials for the show is somewhat authentic to the time, the way in which they are deployed is different in each room. 

The music in the operating room lives almost completely in the late 20^th century with the piano constantly using the four chords in a hushed, trembling, minimalist manner and is always forward thinking. The music for the living room, however, is much more conservative and lives in the time in which the play is set. The music takes influence from Schumann, Chopin, Satie, and Debussy to create a more period atmosphere but never falling into a pastiche of sorts. The play ends with combining these two stylistically different ideas into something that looks forward and back at the same time."   

Performances are at 7:30 pm on October 23; 8 pm on October 24 & 25; and 2 pm on October 26 in the Brown Building Theatre at 402 Tate Street.  All tickets are $6 per person + a 6.75 % NC State Entertainment Tax. 

For online ticket sales: tickets for the vibrator play . 

The play features a cast including Kevin Black, Melissa Blackwell, Drew Greene, Laura Bess Jernigan, Chloe Oliver, Madelynn Poulson, and Michael John Shapiro. 

For more information, log-on to theatre.uncg.edu .