Strange Interlude, Part 1, Acts 1 and 2 Summary

Act 1 - As Marsden waits to see Nina, his childhood sweetheart, his thoughts (spoken aloud) reveal his worries for the fragile Nina and his jealousy of Nina's fiancé Gordon Shaw (killed in an accident after ending their relationship). Nina's father Professor Leeds comes in and greets Marsden, eventually confessing that for Nina's own good, he arranged for Gordon to back away from the relationship. Nina comes in, her thoughts (also spoken) revealing how haunted she is by Gordon's memory. Aloud, she tells her father she's decided to leave home and go work in a hospital - she must, she says, learn to give herself to others in order to redeem herself for not having given in to Gordon's desire for her on his last night at home. She also reveals she knows the Professor arranged...