The Waiting Room

The Waiting Room by Lisa Loomer, the play that we read in class, is a very humorous and risqué way of expressing the role of women in the ages in society. The play was about three women in a waiting room, not only in real life but in a very figurative way.

Victoria, a Victorian English woman, was waiting to have her ovaries checked out, Wanda was waiting to have her breasts checked, and Forgiveness from Heaven was waiting to have her toe checked (which apparently fell off). We learned a lot about these three women just by their attitude and the way they presented themselves to the world.

The message of this play was unclear to me at first, though the beginning of the play was HILARIOUS and got my attention, but as the play progressed I began to understand what Ms. Loomer was trying to say to society. By the last scene it was perfectly clear. I think that Lisa Loomer made hints about today's society but didn't try to tell you directly... otherwise the play would be no fun. She's basically saying that women, not only in ancient times, but today as well, have been degraded and pushed around and used a sex object all our lives. The message of this play that was successfully portrayed is as follows: "You don't have to make other people happy to think you're beautiful. You just have to be yourself and if people don't like it that's their problem. It doesn't matter what other people think of you. They can all go take a long walk on a short pier if they don't like you. We have to stand up for ourselves and be our own people no matter what anybody else has to say about it." and I have to say that I agree!

Victoria, the English woman, wears many layers of clothes and sits calmly and composedly. She has an illness which involves her ovaries being pushed out through her vagina by her corset.... yeah... awkward. Due to this illness she is very hysterical and bites people and screams at others. Victoria is repressed by her husband, who thinks that he should be able to control what his wife reads and says, the way it was in many families back then. I think that she stands up for herself more by the end of the play but she doesn't do enough in my opinion. She makes her husband accept the fact that she reads and enjoys it but she doesn't do anything about the rest of the repressing problems that she's having. I think that that's because of the time period she lives in... 18th century England was very resigned in accepting of the way things are I think. Here is one of my favorite quotes that is said by Victoria "But we'll see each other in the waiting room, won't we? And it's always such a long wait, isn't it?"

Forgiveness from Heaven is a woman from 18th century China who loves her husband very much. Even though he has multiple "wives" this seems to have no effect on Forgiveness though deep down she is very hurt about it. She has been binding her feet since she was five and believes that the only way her husband will love her is if she's obedient to him and looks perfect. I think that she evolved a lot by the end of the play. She learned to accept that she doesn't have to bind her feet to make herself perfect. In the end, though it doesn't say it directly, I think she died of an overdose of opium. She dies with the image of her taking off her bindings and dancing around with them in her hands. "Chinese story. Happy ending not necessary. Maybe happy ending in next life."

Wanda is a forty year old from Jersey who is flirtatious and acts like she's only thirty. She has ENORMOUS breast implants and believes that the only way she'll be noticed is to be a dumb, beautiful, blond with big boobs. I think she was the most focused on character as the play went on because she was focusing on a real problem... breast cancer. Wanda definitely grows the most of the three women in this story. She has always lived her life in fear that she will be disliked by others for her looks, so she makes herself more appealing to others and I think that she finally realizes that there's more to life. "If I want to die. If I want to call up my doctor and say 'No thank you very much,' or 'Please God help me!' -- for once in my lousy screwed up life, it's MY BODY! MY BODY! MINE!! And you know what I figured out this morning? I sat down with a pencil and paper and figured out I've spent 6,750 hours... on my hair. And, yeah, dying would be a bitch. But isn't it worse-- not living while you're alive?"

There are about four men in this play but the most important are: Ken, Larry, and Douglas. They are all concerned about a serum being made in Jamaica, each for their own purpose. Ken is an official of the FDA (or Food and Drug Administration) and seems to support it. He is a scientist and claims that he saw rats with breast tumors cured almost instantly with it. Larry, holds the patent for a cure for cancer called INT-2 which is not all that different from Carson's serum. He is afraid that if Carson's serum is put through he will loose his money on his cure. It actually frightens me because if the government is really getting involved in this manner then who knows what cures could be out there that they're hiding from us. My grandfather has prostate cancer and is dying at this very moment... if the government were hiding something like this... I would be guilty of murder. Douglas is a doctor (actually the doctor of Victoria, Forgiveness, and Wanda) and has prostate cancer himself. He is on neither side but does lean more toward the INT-2. He is definitely in the middle of a crisis and seems to just trying to get through the day. He has a full waiting room.

I think that Lisa Loomer concluded her play brilliantly. I only wish that I could see what changes were to be made at Victoria's house (what is she allowed to do now? Can she smoke or is she forced to hide the real her even further?) and in Wanda's life (does she find a man who wants her for her? Does she make it through the cancer? Which treatment did she take?) Just what becomes of them. Maybe Lisa Loomer could write an epilogue... or I could write one for her.

Stay tuned for "The Waiting Room Act III" by Shellina (Shellby) Hefner!!