I’m finally hopping on the Sarah Ruhl train.. I had always liked her work in the past, but I guess it had just never left a strong impression on me after I was done.. UNTIL! Now. These past couple weeks I read 3 of her plays in succession – Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Clean House, and In The Next Room (or the Vibrator Play). After I was finished, I felt so fulfilled and moved by each of these 3 stories, yet in such different ways. All 3 stories seemed so uniquely different and encapsulating of their own worlds, filled with dynamic characters, plenty of idiosyncrasies, and moving, wholly rounded plot lines and themes. Yet there was something, a je ne sais quoi (besides having the same playwright), that seemed to link these different planets together. So I’ve been dwelling upon it for quite some time, and here I am to address is. Has Sarah Ruhl found out how to create the contemporary version of the 19th century well-made play? I couldn’t help but notice that many of the aspects of the 19th century well-made play (plot, climax, casually related plot complications, many of them comedic or farse-like) are found in her plays as well.
We can’t ignore her popularity — I haven’t met a person who hasn’t expressed some variation of love or interest in her yet, and I’m wondering if its because the structure of her writing ties it all together into a wildly contemporary, yet all the same, perfect example of a well-made play. I don’t necessarily think I’ve found the answer — why her plays do what they do and the effect they have on us, but this theory certainly has me wondering.
Some more articles about Ruhl/her work
