In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play

Act One

Mrs. Catherine Givings coos over the cradle of her baby, Leticia (or “Lotty”,),. She delights in showing the baby the magic of her new electric lamp. Catherine’s husband, Dr. Givings, coldly passes through the room, only to momentarily return and greet her, before leaving again for the operating room. Alone again, Catherine assures Lotty that she will find her a suitable wet nurse-- near tears, she says, “My milk is not filling you up, is it?”

In the operating room, Annie, Dr. Giving’s assistant, is preparing the exam table. The doorbell rings. Mrs. Sabrina Daldry, in a veil, hangs limply on her husband Mr. Daldry’s arm. In the operating theater (a label which Annie kindly softens to “in the next room,”) the Daldry’s are greeted by Dr. Givings. Mr. Daldry begins to inform the doctor of his wife’s ailments: she is sensitive to both light and cold, she weeps frequently for seemingly nonsensical reasons, and “her fingers do not work. In the living room. Or in any other room, if