Act 1, Friday Night Summary

The play opens in the comfortably appointed suburban living room of Agnes and Tobias, a married couple. She is in her late 50's, and he is a little older. Agnes is thinking aloud about what it would be like to go mad. She believes that if one can entertain the idea of it, there is probably not any danger of going over the edge. She thinks that if she should go mad though, she would find it to be freeing to lift away from everything. Tobias assures her that she is the sanest person he knows and will be the last to plunge into any depths.

Agnes concedes that she could never go adrift for fear of what would happen to him. Tobias jokingly tells her that he will have her committed, sell everything, and move to Tucson where...