The Man Who Came to Dinner

Act One

On a cold December morning, in the comfortable Mesalia, Ohio, home of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest W. Stanley, the household is in an uproar. As an unseen, belligerent patient yells vigorous insults at his doctor and nurse, the Stanleys, including their son Richard and daughter June, wait with excitement and anxiety. Two starstruck friends of Mrs. Stanley's, Mrs. Dexter and Mrs. McCutcheon, drop by with gifts for the invalid, bringing a newspaper article explaining the situation: famed critic, wit, radio personality, and general celebrity Sheridan Whiteside happened to slip on a piece of ice on the Stanley’s doorstep and break his hip after a dinner engagement during a quick lecture tour through town, and has now been confined to their home during recovery. The ladies exclaim over their town’s sudden notoriety, and over the number of celebrities who have been sending cards, telegrams, and presents to the injured man, including H.G Wells and Mahatma Gandhi. The chatter is interrupted by