OLD Whidbey Life Magazine

Tag: theater on Whidbey

  • Sex and electricity — ‘In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)’ continues at OutCast

    Sex and electricity — ‘In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)’ continues at OutCast

    May 6, 2015

    Victorian New England comes to life in Sarah Ruhl’s play “In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)” at OutCast Productions at the Black Box Theater in Langley.

    “In the Next Room” is a great script by an exciting modern American playwright; so don’t miss it. It all takes place in the dawn of the age of electricity, and after the Civil War; circa 1880s. The play focuses on the revelations sparked by the female orgasm.

    Katie Woodzick and Michael Morgen rehearse a scene from "In the Next Room" at OutCast Productions. / Photo by Doug Kalb
    Katie Woodzick and Michael Morgen rehearse a scene from “In the Next Room” at OutCast Productions. (photos by Doug Kolb)

    Sabrina Daldry and Catherine Givings are sexually frustrated with their husbands, who creep quietly into their beds at night and only use the missionary position, which they endure, but do not enjoy. Both are excited to have their first orgasms with the machine. Mrs. Daldry is content to continue having clinical treatments with the machine and suffer lifeless, boring sex with her own husband. But Catherine Givings wants more.

    Mrs. Givings learns from a visiting artist that orgasms detached from love ultimately are unfulfilling and empty, simply surface, without soul. Then a lower-class wet nurse, Elizabeth, reveals to Catherine that she may be able to enjoy the same sensations from the machine with her husband, with whom she is frustrated because of his clinical detachment, but still ultimately loves.

    Vibrator Play 01
    Katie Woodzick, Phil Jordan and Kathryn Lynn Morgen in a scene from Sarah Ruhl’s play, “In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)” opens at OutCast Friday, May 8.

    Director Ned Farley brings the play to life with cast members Ethan Berkley, Jennifer Bondelid, Phil Jordan, Kathryn Lynn Morgen, Michael Morgen, Hollie Swanson and Katie Woodzick in this hilarious comedy of manners, which was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play.

    The show opens at 7:30 pm Friday, May 8 at the Whidbey Island Fairgrounds’ Black Box Theater in Langley located at 819 Camano Ave., Langley. Visit outcastproductions.net for more info. Performances continue at 7:30 pm May 9, 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23; and at 2 pm Sunday, May 17.

    Tickets are $18 for adults and $14 for students and seniors. Get them at Brown Paper Tickets or reserve seats and pay at the door by cash or check by emailing us at ocp@whidbey.com.

  • OutCast Productions presents ‘Nickel and Dimed’ opening in Langley March 6

    OutCast Productions presents ‘Nickel and Dimed’ opening in Langley March 6

    March 4,2015

    Let’s face the facts: The cycle of poverty in America is shamefully bolstered by corporate managers, who value the market more than the average worker’s well-being.

    Peggy Gilmer, Judith Dankanics, Mona Newbauer and Julia Tewksbury portray the low-wage women workers of “Nickel and Dimed” on (not) getting by in America. / Photo by Jim Carroll of Shu Images
    Peggy Gilmer, Judith Dankanics, Mona Newbauer and Julia Tewksbury portray the low-wage women workers of “Nickel and Dimed” on (not) getting by in America.  (photo by Jim Carroll of Shu Images)

    Joan Holden’s play “Nickel and Dimed” is based on the sociological non-fiction, bestseller “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich, about the author’s undercover odyssey into the world of a low-wage life. OutCast Productions opens the play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 6 at the Black Box Theater at the Whidbey Island Fairgrounds in Langley. The show runs through Saturday, March 21.

    Can a middle-aged, middle-class woman survive when she suddenly has to make beds all day in a hotel and live on $7 an hour? Maybe. But one $7-an-hour job won’t pay the rent. She’ll have to do back-to-back shifts, as a chambermaid and a waitress. Ehrenreich’s book about her discoveries in the hardscrabble life of underpaid women in America is vivid and witty, yet always deeply sobering, and Holden’s script brings that sobering reality to life.

    Julia Tewksbury as Barbara and Eric Anderson as Phillip rehearse Joan Holden’s play “Nickel and Dimed,” based on the nonfiction bestseller by Barbara Ehrenreich. / Photo by Jim Carroll of Shu Images
    Julia Tewksbury as Barbara and Eric Anderson as Phillip rehearse Joan Holden’s play “Nickel and Dimed,” based on the nonfiction bestseller by Barbara Ehrenreich. (photo by Jim Carroll of Shu Images)

    Director K. Sandy O’Brien maintains a comic lightness throughout, as the middle-aged Barbara stumbles around the country from one hard-knock job to another. Meanwhile, what is finally illuminated is the ultimate conclusion of Ehrenreich’s study: There is a dark shadow of oppression that continues to weigh heavily on the low-wage workforce of America.

    The cast includes Eric Andersen, Sean Brennan, Jim Carroll, Judith Dankanics, Patricia Duff, Peggy Gilmer, Doug Kolb, Hannah Mack, Mona Newbauer and Julia Tewksbury (as Barbara).

    Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, March 6 to 21; at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 15. Doors open one half hour before show time.

    Tickets are $18 for adults and $14 for student/seniors.

    Tickets are available via Brown Paper Tickets here. You can also reserve tickets and pay at the door by cash or check by emailing us at ocp@whidbey.com.

    The Black Box Theater is located at  819 Camano Ave. in Langley. Find out more at www.outcastproductions.net.