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Act 1, Part 1

• The play begins with an introduction from the Stage Manager, a character who performs several functions throughout the play: narrator, philosopher, stagehand, and occasionally actor.

• He describes the layout of the town, paying particular attention to the homes of the Gibbs and Webb families.

• We see other members of the Gibbs family, including Mrs. Gibbs, who comes into her kitchen to prepare breakfast, and who later dies while out West visiting her daughter, Rebecca.

• As Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb bustle around their kitchens; Doc Gibbs encounters the paperboy, Joe, and we learn that Dr. Gibbs was out all night delivering twins.

• After encountering Howie Newsome, the town milkman, out on his rounds, Doc Gibbs returns home just as Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb are calling to their children to get up.

• Mrs. Gibbs gently chides Doc Gibbs for not getting enough rest, and then asks...

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