Next Room a feelgood play that vibrates with wit and passion

This is the ultimate feelgood play. So much so that The Court Theatre’s programme should guarantee audience satisfaction. Melanie Luckman’s production of American playwright Sarah Ruhl’s In The Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, comes as close to perfection as any stage work can decently get. So much so that, after the first night, most of the audience probably left with a glow.

Ruhl’s elegant wit crackles and sparks – rather like Mr Eddison’s wondrous electricity. It is dispatched with effortless flair by a cast who fill the stage with all those qualities that mark a night of outstandingly good theatre.

Yes, this is a play about human relationships and sexuality. No, it is not some puerile sexual farce. In The Next Room is best described as a ‘‘serious’’ comedy that observes the world with eloquence, wit and humanity.

The setting is New York State in the 1880s. The dedicated but selfabsorbed Dr Givings (Jonathan Martin) is treating cases of female (and occasional male) ‘‘hysteria’’ using a revolutionary electrical device which, when applied to certain areas of the body, mysteriously relieves the distressing symptoms. Meanwhile, the feisty Mrs Givings (Amy Straker) understandably feels neglected. She becomes friends with one of her husband’s patients, an equally frustrated Sabrina Daldry (Hannah Wheeler). Before long, a protofeminist revolt is creeping through the decorous drawing room.

An absorbing catalogue of characters also inhabit this small, stuffy world. There’s the hearty but crass Mr Daldry (Matt Hudson), a posturing English artist, Leo Irving (Fergus Inder) and a wet nurse, Elizabeth (Bianca Seinafo), hired to care for the Givings’ baby. Hovering throughout with quiet dignity is the doctor’s nurse, Annie (Eilish Moran).

Both individually and collectively, the cast injected potent passion and credibility into their roles to create a seamless, harmonious and impeccably crafted whole. They never once faltered, creating characters with enough substance and credibility to rank this production among the best I’ve seen at The Court. Even Julian Southgate’s marvellously overstuffed Victorian set becomes a star in its own right.

If you want to foster excellent theatre in Christchurch, don’t miss this production.