The Day Room

Act I is set in a semi-private hostpital room. Mr. Budge tries to get his new rommate, Mr. Wyatt to talk to him. A series of characters posing as medical staff are gradually revealed to be patients from the neighboring Arlo Klein Psychiatric Wing, known as “The Day Room.” Act II is set in a motel room where the same actors now play different characters. They watch daytime TV, throw food, and search for the elisive Arlo Klein Theatre Company that no one else has seen. Mr. Wyatt becomes a man in a straightjacket who spouts fragments of TV babble as the other characters signal him by remote control. At the end of the play, the scene is changed back to a hospital, and it appears the action will begin again.