Cast of Characters
| Monica, daughter of Madame Flora, s |
Toby, a mute, actor |
| Madame Flora, c |
Mrs. Gobineau, s |
| Mr. Gobineau, bar |
Mrs. Nolan, ms |
| A Voice, offstage, s |
Synopsis
The Medium was commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.
Monica, the daughter of Madame Flora ("Baba"), and Toby, a mute boy living with them,
are playing while Madame Flora is away. When she returns, she is furious that they are
not ready for the seance she has planned; Monica prevents her from striking Toby.
They busily prepare, and when the three guests arrive for the seance, Monica pretends
to be the teenage daughter of one and the baby son of another, while Toby works the
mechanical devices that control the motion of the lights and the furniture in the room. Suddenly, Madame Flora stops the seance and sends the customers away. She tells Monica
she felt a spectral hand clutch her throat during the seance. She suspects Toby at first,
but as Monica tries to comfort her Flora hears a voice imitating Monica's performance at
the seance.
A few days later, Monica is watching Toby perform a puppet show for her; then she dances
for him. Monica realizes he is trying to tell her that he loves her; pretending to be his voice,
she says it for him. She runs off as Flora reenters; the medium tries cajole Toby into
confessing that he was the one who touched her during the seance, or that he knows
something about it. When he does not answer, she begins to whip him, but is interrupted
by the doorbell. The three clients from the previous seance enter; Flora gives them their
money back and tries to convince them they have been cheated, even showing them
the wires and microphones, but they refuse to believe her. She throws them out, and
despite Monica's protests, throws Toby out, too. Monica goes to her room, and Flora,
frightened by what she has experienced, drinks herself to sleep. Toby returns; Flora
awakes, and Toby hides from her; Flora, thinking he is the spirit she felt, shoots him.
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