The Waiting Room

Play

Writers: Lisa Loomer

Overview

Show Information

Category
Play
Number of Acts
2
First Produced
1994
Genres
Dark Comedy
Settings
Period, Contemporary, Multiple Settings
Time & Place
New York City, England, China, The past and the present
Cast Size
large
Ideal for
Diverse Cast, College/University, Ensemble Cast, Professional Theatre
Casting Notes
Mostly female cast
Includes adult, young adult characters

Synopsis

Different times and different cultures collide with each other in Lisa Loomer’s dark comedy.

Three women meet in a waiting room, each from a different time and culture and suffering from the effects of their culture’s beauty practices. Victoria, from Victorian England, is about to have her ovaries removed to treat her “hysteria”. Forgiveness From Heaven, an 18th-century Chinese woman, has rotting feet from the feet binding practiced in her culture. Wanda, a modern woman from New Jersey, has advanced breast cancer that wasn’t caught sooner because of her large implants. Douglas, a hapless surgeon, is caught in the middle, torn between his obligations to his patients and his hospital. An ensemble feminist play, The Waiting Room takes a no-holds-barred look at the price women pay for beauty.

Lead Characters


The Waiting Room guide sections