Standing in the frosty mid-November air, residents of all walks of life waited in the queue to receive a free vibrator courtesy of Trojan.

Next Tuesday, Trojan will be setting up a cart outside The Park at Fourteenth nightclub at 14th and K streets NW to give to curious Washingtonians free vibrators.

In the late 1880s, electricity was still a curiosity. Not every home was wired, and as the debate over Edison’s direct current and Tesla’s alternating current raged on, some wondered if electric light was even a desirable substitute for candles, oil lamps, and gas lights to begin with. This is the world of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, one in which every light that turns on at the flip of a switch is cause for a momentary incredulous pause at what wonders technology brings.