In a small, cramped house in a run-down neighborhood live Doc and Lola Delaney. Lola is a lonely, unkempt, bored housewife and Doc is a frustrated chiropractor and recovering alcoholic. Both struggle to live in the present: Lola clings to the glory days of her youth, while Doc is haunted by dreams of the different life he might have lead, were it not for his young marriage to Lola. Their neglected marriage is shaken to its core with the arrival Marie, a beautiful, captivating young college student who boards in their spare room. Doc imagines Marie to embody all he has lost and now desires: innocence, purity, and love. When his delusions are shattered, all the Delaneys’ dormant hostilities are finally pushed to a breaking point. Playwright William Inge burst onto the American theatre scene with Come Back, Little Sheba, and its striking portrait of a strained marriage continues to resonate with audiences today.
Come Back, Little Sheba guide sections
