Summary

The curtain rises on the living room of the Brewster house in Brooklyn, where all of the action in the play takes place; Abby Brewster, Dr. Harper – the elderly pastor of the church located directly across a graveyard from the Brewster house – and Teddy are having tea. The living room is described as being “Victorian” and old-fashioned. Abby is in her mid-sixties and is quite prim and proper, as is Dr. Harper. Teddy is in his early 40s, has a large mustache, and is wearing a long coat and old-fashion pince-nez glasses. The action is set “in the present,” which in this case means 1941, the year of the play’s publication, just before America entered World War Two.

Dr. Harper and Abby are discussing the fact that Abby’s nephew Mortimer is dating Dr. Harper’s daughter Elaine, and that the...