Sarah Ruhl’s play “In the Next Room or the vibrator play” rules

I’m not going to beat around the bush

Sarah Ruhl’s dramatic comedy “In the Next Room, or the vibrator play” is stimulating entertainment, saucy yet soft and, like a relationship, it gives – quite a bit in the witty and edgy department – and takes.

What the show takes is our acceptance. We cannot be prudish or offended because with a name like vibrator in the title, you’ve pretty much been forewarned.

Granted, there are lots of petticoats and bed sheets concealing the action but still “climactic” heights are reached again and again. So better to embrace that and go with the flow of this plot, which is, after all, an exploration of female sexuality.

Ruhl’s “In the Next Room” mixes the advent of electricity with a new device that seems to solve a woman’s “hysteria.” The device is invented by a proper upper class Victorian gentleman doctor who is bedside-manner challenged and also challenged by his increasingly despondent wife who wants a piece of the action.

Ruhl takes this premise and weaves a bit of history and other subplots into this show and marvelously makes it funny though Ruhl’s characters lead tortured lives filled with loss and loneliness.

In weaving this web, things and lives get tangled up a lot and Act II seemed like it dragged in parts as these twists struggled for resolution. But in the end, I liked these characters and I wanted them to figure it out and, like in any good relationship, find a happy ending. Sadly, there’s some unrequited love here that doesn’t get requited and still I left the theater smiling — snow angels have that affect on me.

“In the Next Room” had cutting edge direction from Kurt Beattie, lovely sets (Matthew Smucker) and costumes (Catherine Hunt) and three wonderful debut actors to ACT Theatre that I hope make repeat appearances: Deborah King and Michael Patten as Mr. and Mrs. Daldry and Connor Toms as Leo Irving. Tracy Michelle Hughes was absolutely moving as Elizabeth, a hilariously deadpan performance from Mary Kae Irvin as Annie and a standing-ovation worthy performance by Jeff Cummings and Jennifer Sue Johnson as Mr. and Mrs. Givings.

“In the Next Room” performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 7 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 28 at ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle. Adult tickets start at $37.50. Call 206-292.7676 or go to ACT.