Miss Spink and Miss Forcible are former actresses who are always reminiscing about their years on the stage and the great Shakespearean roles they played. When Coraline goes to the other world, she sees that the exterior of the apartment block she shares with the ladies appears much the same, but there are lights above their door.

Inside the apartment, Coraline finds a large theatre with an audience of dogs. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible come on stage and step out of their bodies, which turn out to have been padded suits. Beneath the suits, the other Miss Spink and Miss Forcible are slender young women. They perform a variety act in which they enlist Coraline's help, putting a balloon on her head and throwing knives at it. They give her some chocolate and she leaves.

Although Miss Spink and Miss Forcible are young and still performing in the other world, their variety act is an ersatz version of what they remember in the real world. This could be because their memories are faulty, or because the beldam often gets things wrong in the other world.