Playwright: Sarah Ruhl
At: Victory Gardens Theater. 2433 N. Lincoln. Tickets: 773-871-3000;
www.victorygardens.org; $20-$50. Runs through: Oct. 9
This is the comedy Henrik Ibsen never wrote. Of course, Sarah Ruhl's play portrays the 1880s in a knowing, 21st-century way far different from Ibsen, who never could have been as forward in discussing physical matters. Still, Ibsen instantly would have understood the priggish men and constrained women who populate Ruhl's play; women like his own Hedda Gabler and Nora Helmer who often are more intelligent and always more intuitive then the men in whose shadows they dwell.
In common with Hedda and Nora, Ruhl's Catherine Givings and Sabrina Daldry sense the disconnect between life realities and the romantic notions of happiness, love, marriage and passion upon which they were raised. Ibsen, however, only could imply the sexual component of passion, frequently bubbling beneath the surface but unspoken, while Ruhl places it center stage.
The play revolves around the wide-spread ignorance of female sexuality during the Victorian Era. One consequence was the medical use in the 1880s of new-fangled electric vibrators as a cure for hysteria, a catch-all female ailment thought to be linked to excessive fluid in the womb. Applied to the exterior surfaces of a woman's genital region, the vibrators often brought relief from hysterical symptoms through orgasm, although its sexual basis went unrecognized.
Ruhl has great fun with all this in her typically clever, highly theatrical and always original way, even introducing a male hysteric whose treatment will have every man in the audiencegay or straightclenching his cheeks. However, Ruhl's really in pursuit, as was Ibsen, of the much more serious matter of whether or not her central couple, Dr. and Mrs. Givings, can forge a more equal, more honest and genuinely passionate relationship. Despite his name and acclaimed vibrator treatments, Dr. Givings knows not how to give and doesn't even understand an open-mouth kiss. It's Catherine who must seize the physical initiative and sift through her various romantic notions, indirectly assisted by a passionate young painter.
As directed by Sandy Shinner, Kate Fry is an exciting Catherine Givings, balancing discontent with slyness and wide-eyed surprise on Catherine's journey of self-discovery. Her foil is the vibrator patient, Mrs. Daldry, played with humor and feeling by Polly Noonan. As Dr. Givings, Mark L. Montgomery is an imposing figure in a more limited role, as the play belongs to the ladies. Colorful and warm support is provided by Lawrence Grimm (Mr. Daldry), Patricia Kane (Dr. Givings' assistant), Tamberla Perry (the wet nurse hired by the Givings) and Joel Gross as the painter.
Jacqueline Firkens's elegant costumes and richly patterned fabrics look quite fine on Jack Magaw's period-perfect box set with its luxurious wallpapers and parquet floor, lit by Joseph Appelt. Andre Pluess composed the charming pseudo-19th-century parlor music.