In The Next Room, or The Vibrator Play
Contrary to every review of it I’ve read, Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, is not about Victorian mores and the treatment of women. It’s about how we – now as in the past – closet sex away and treat it, not as in integral part of our lives, but as something “in the next room” – literally in the play, figuratively in the play. The Actors Theatre production of the hit comedy, an Arizona premiere, ends its highly successful run this weekend, with last shows tonight (Nov. 13) and tomorrow.
There are many poetic moments in the script, brought out wonderfully by the production. The one that touched me most personally was when the character Mrs. Givings points out it is the “unfinished” woman, the incomplete female, who most deeply attracts a man. Exactly! (How’d she – I mean the playwright – know that?)
***
The use of surtitles for Arizona Opera’s recent production of The Pirates of Penzance prompts the question, “Do we really need to see the words as well as hear then, when the words both heard and seen are…English?” It’s standard practice, I know, for operas in English to receive sub- or surtitles, the reason supposedly being that operatic singing is not conducive to being understood. But it seemed odd-nigh-ridiculous for a Gilbert and Sullivan piece, with its emphasis on the humor of Gilbert’s clever rhymes, to have the words appear above the action in advance of their being heard.
For instance, in “A Modern Major General,” the general’s famous rhyme for “strategy” appeared a good ten seconds before the singer delivered it, stepping on the joke. (Yes, I know most of us already know what the rhyme is – that’s not the point.) I’m of a mind to try to ignore the surtitles for Arizona Opera’s upcoming production of Carmen, as I imagine many who know the opera well are also inclined to do. Would that Arizona Opera’s titles were not so IMPOSING, writ large as they are. Too bad Arizona Opera hasn’t the money to do what Santa Fe Opera does: provide titles on the back of the seat in front of you, with the option of turning them off.
***
The Balinese gamelan is one of the most mesmerizing aural experiences available on the globe. Our own Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) will present a rare opportunity to hear this consort of bells, chimes and gongs in concert Sunday and Monday, Nov. 14 and 15. If you haven’t taken the time to view the MIM yet, combine a visit with this concert. I guarantee you won’t soon forget it.
– Ken LaFave
LaFave on the Arts 
#1 by David Bolger on November 14, 2010 - 10:15 pm
Ken, Ken, Ken . . .
Give me a break, amigo.
You’ve been around opera long enough to remember when the purists proclaimed that surtitles would somehow be the “death” of opera. I never quite got that argument, having grown up in the pre-surtitle era when you tried to read the libretto in advance of seeing an opera and/or read furiously before the curtain and between each act to try and better understand what was being sung. As long as opera is sung – as it should be – in the language in which it was composed, surtitles have, in my opinion, only strengthened the comfort of people who were new to the art form. I would also add my “yes” vote to having surtitles in English for English-language works. Yes, even G&S. Especially G&S. I’ve seen G&S in this country, and by the D’Oyly Carte (sp?) Company in London, and both patter songs and dialogue in an English accent are not always easy to process. That is doubly true for a huge house like Symphony Hall, even with its somewhat improved acoustics. And, I hesitate to mention it, with the “older demographic” – which might possibly include me, but I’m not saying – a little assist in understanding dialogue is not a bad thing.
As for the size of the surtitles? Jeez, Ken, some people wear glasses and sit way back in the balcony. I wear glasses and sit quite close. Of all the things that have bothered me about an Arizona Opera performance in Symphony Hall, the size of the surtitles has just never risen to my level of consciousness.
Like you say, you don’t have to look at them.
Two other points and I’ll end this rant and thank you for writing something about the arts in Phoenix that one can even have an opinion about:
1. Never forget that this will be some number of the audience’s first Carmen. A good performance, plus being able to know what’s going on, might help ensure that it isn’t their last; that they will enjoy it, know that they don’t have to speak or understand French to follow along, and feel that they are just as welcome as anybody else.
2. Yeah, surtitles on seat backs with an on/off switch would be a nifty thing. But I would remind you that Arizona Opera doesn’t control the houses where we perform, as does the Met and Santa Fe Opera. Even in opera, it isn’t always a question of money. Just most of the time.
Seriously, I enjoy your postings, but I think you got a bit myopic (no pun intended) on this one.
Ken, Ken, Ken . . .
Give me a break, amigo.
You’ve been around opera long enough to remember when the purists proclaimed that surtitles would somehow be the “death” of opera. I never quite got that argument, having grown up in the pre-surtitle era when you tried to read the libretto in advance of seeing an opera and/or read furiously before the curtain and between each act to try and better understand what was being sung. As long as opera is sung – as it should be – in the language in which it was composed, surtitles have, in my opinion, only strengthened the comfort of people who were new to the art form. I would also add my “yes” vote to having surtitles in English for English-language works. Yes, even G&S. Especially G&S. I’ve seen G&S in this country, and by the D’Oyly Carte (sp?) Company in London, and both patter songs and dialogue in an English accent are not always easy to process. That is doubly true for a huge house like Symphony Hall, even with its somewhat improved acoustics. And, I hesitate to mention it, with the “older demographic” – which might possibly include me, but I’m not saying – a little assist in understanding dialogue is not a bad thing.
As for the size of the surtitles? Jeez, Ken, some people wear glasses and sit way back in the balcony. I wear glasses and sit quite close. Of all the things that have bothered me about an Arizona Opera performance in Symphony Hall, the size of the surtitles has just never risen to my level of consciousness.
Like you say, you don’t have to look at them.
Two other points and I’ll end this rant and thank you for writing something about the arts in Phoenix that one can even have an opinion about:
1. Never forget that this will be some number of the audience’s first Carmen. A good performance, plus being able to know what’s going on, might help ensure that it isn’t their last; that they will enjoy it, know that they don’t have to speak or understand French to follow along, and feel that they are just as welcome as anybody else.
2. Yeah, surtitles on seat backs with an on/off switch would be a nifty thing. But I would remind you that Arizona Opera doesn’t control the houses where we perform, as does the Met and Santa Fe Opera. Even in opera, it isn’t always a question of money. Just most of the time.
Seriously, I enjoy your postings, but I think you got a bit myopic (no pun intended) on this one.
#2 by Ken on November 15, 2010 - 4:45 am
David –
Thanks for the thoughtful rejoinder! What’s what I want this site to be: a place where we can trade opinions about the arts we love. In general, I agree with you that sur- or subtitles are a big help for most opera-goers. But they sometimes stick in my craw, as when they telegraph lines that are best understood only at the moment they are sung.
Keep reading – and keep posting those comments.
– Ken