The internet was abuzz last week with heated reactions to Thomas Jenkins’ far-from-rote review of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), currently playing in the Playhouse’s Cellar Theater. The play, a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, includes a wet nurse named Elizabeth, whom Ruhl intended to be portrayed by an African-American woman. The Playhouse, however, cast an actress who's intended to be a Russian immigrant. According to Jenkins’ review, “a Playhouse representative reported that they tried but were unable to secure an African-American for the role."
The explanation grabbed the attention of the city's theater personalities, high and not so mighty alike.
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