Any ideas on this photo please?

I do not know who any of the people are, but this has been puzzling me all day! (found amongst OH's latemother's family photos)

At first I thought it might be an asylum, with a nurse in the middle and a female patient either side of her, and a male patient - but now I am not so sure - the more I look at it, the more the two female "patients" seem possibly to be acting - any ideas please? - I'm afraid my scanning abilities are not teribly good - and it will not go straight !! - but someone has thought this photo sufficiently important to keep it in a safe place for nearly 100 years.