At the beginning of act 2, Sir Henry Harcourt Reilly gives his secretary precise orders about when to bring each of his patients into his room, reviewing the code that he will buzz on the intercom system to let her know when it is time for the next. Miss Barraway appears briefly, bringing people onstage and ushering them off.
In act 3, when Edward and Lavinia are preparing for their cocktail party, there is a man from the catering company around, setting things up. His function is to show that, even in their home, they are on their "social" behavior, and that they have no private behavior any more.
Much of the play centers around the problems between Edward and his wife, Lavinia. Edward is a lawyer,.....
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