The Vibrator Play

[xoffender45]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 6:48pm

Was this show any good? I imagine that with Michael Ceveris and Laura Benanti in it, it couldn't have been too shaby, but I'd like to hear everyone's opinion.

Also, are there any known recordings of the show, either official, or unofficial? lol

[Kad]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 6:50pm

I thought it was a wonderful play. It's been published now, if you ever wish to read it.

Maria Dizzia was the standout of the cast, actually. She earned her Tony nom.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 6:53pm

Liked this one a lot - solid play (on the short list for the Pulitzer Prize) with terrific performances.

[doombuggy25]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 6:57pm

Just saw this play yesterday in Boston, and was mesmerized. Hilarious, but very eye opening. A great viewpoint on the way we view sex.

If anyone is in the Boston area, I highly recommend the production at Speakeasy Stage. It runs for another few weeks, the acting and physical production were incredible.

[xoffender45]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 7:05pm

Kad, Amazon has two versions: they look exactly the same, but one's already been released, and the other comes out in November. Do you know what, if any, is the difference?

[Kad]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 7:11pm

Hm, I have no idea, actually. The one that has been published is the version that Samuel French sells and licenses. I would imagine the one being released in November is through a mainstream publisher (probably TCG, as they published Ruhl's other plays). I would imagine they're largely the same, with the Samuel French version being more conducive for use as an actor.

[xoffender45]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 7:13pm

Thanks! It has now been ordered. Can't wait.

Now, that said....any "unofficial" video recordings of the Ceveris/Benanti production? None of my sources seem to have it, but maybe someone knows of something?

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 7:16pm

I loved this show. Maria Dizzia was the standout, but no one was slouching. Cerveris and Benanti were sublime in roles that I felt were huge departures for them.

It was a very interesting piece-well written, sophisticated and quite emotional. The staging of the last scene with the house fading away and the snow falling as the couple made love was among the most stunning I have ever seen.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 7:21pm

I also really enjoyed the show and thought Maria Dizzia was by far the standout. I don't think the show was perfect, but it was smart, sophisticated, very funny and incredibly well-acted.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 7:22pm

"The staging of the last scene with the house fading away and the snow falling as the couple made love was among the most stunning I have ever seen."

Completely agree. It was completely theatrical and entirely magical.

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 8:13pm

Does anyone know of any upcoming theaters doing the play?

I checked the samuel french website and didn't find anything. I just missed it on Broadway and really would like to see a production.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 9/27/10 at 8:36pm

The Sam French version is the one that's currently released. TCG was supposed to have it printed some months ago but it was delayed.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 12:33am

Maria Dizzia was fantastic.

I liked it, but I like other Sarah Ruhl much more.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 12:36am

Loved this play. For whoever asked, it's currently performing at Southern Rep in New Orleans through Oct 3rd.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 1:02am

"I liked it, but I like other Sarah Ruhl much more."

I agree... it was a departure from her more whimsical stuff. I prefer Dead Man's Cell Phone.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 1:06am

If anyone is in the Boston area, I highly recommend the production at Speakeasy Stage. It runs for another few weeks, the acting and physical production were incredible.

Speakeasy does such fantastic productions; I can only imagine how well they're handling this play.

[JMPlayer6]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 9:57am

I saw it in Boston (Speakeasy) two weeks ago myself.

[wexy]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 10:31am

Thought it was good.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 11:01am

It's a wonderfully written play. I'm a big fan of Ruhl's work. While this isn't my favorite work of hers (EURYDICE is an absolutely stunning piece of theatre), it's really just a great play. More "realistic" than her other works, but still with the trademark whimsy she brings to everything she writes.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 4:58pm

I liked it well enough, but not nearly as much as I like a lot of Sarah Ruhl's other work. I felt it didn't have a lot of the elements that made me a fan of hers in the first place.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 5:10pm

I wasn't nuts about it right after seeing it and the more I thought about it, the more I disliked it. Bottom line: I wasn't a fan. At all, really.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 6:57pm

I love this play as well.

I saw the Speakeasy production in Boston a week or so ago, and I thought they did a terrific job, despite a few complaints I had about it.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 9/28/10 at 8:07pm

It's playing in DC thru 10/3 (http://www.woollymammoth.net/)

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 12:58am

"If anyone is in the Boston area, I highly recommend the production at Speakeasy Stage. It runs for another few weeks, the acting and physical production were incredible."

The director (Scott Edmiston) is absolutely wonderful!

[Roscoe]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 9:33am

Hated every second I wasted sitting there watching this sh*t play. Dreadfully uneven, it thinks it is some kind of feminist statement about something but it never manages to come together into anything even remotely coherent, the Terribly Serious moments and the Grossly Overplayed Comedy don't work together AT ALL. It comes off like some misbegotten mishmash of A DOLL'S HOUSE and VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM, but without any of the qualities that might have made it even remotely interesting.

This could have been the fault of the production. Cerveris and the actresses playing the nurses seemed to be in some undiscovered Ibsen play, while the rest of the cast seemed to be auditioning for the tour of BOEING BOEING. Audience reaction was muted, to put it politely, the night I saw it: I've never seen so many empty seats after intermission.