This type of exchange, typical of this piece, is clearly biographical for the playwright whose pain never impressed any of his oppressors. She becomes pregnant, gives birth to the doctor's twins and, unable to care for them, gives them up for adoption. Before the children leave she gives each of them half of the locket. That is the play's past. Alcohol is consumed ad nauseam to deaden the reality of undisclosed insanity.
Men practicing medicine create senseless theories to explain simple human behaviors.
What pretends to be rational is clearly irrational and what passes for sanity is found insane. Derek McLane's set is functional and beautiful, replete with running water and an octagonal skylight. The offstage dispensary, garden, and hospital become real to the audience as the actors come and go in various states of disrepair. Mattie Ullrich's costumes recreate 1960s England with precision, with one very minor exception. Lights and sound as designed by James Vermeulen and Ken Travis respectively serve the cast well.