Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

Seventeen-year-old Tess listens to a recording of a women's chorus that her mother used to belong to and comments into a tape recorder on the choir's technique.

Tess's aunt Pfeni arrives, juggling handfuls of shopping bags, apologizing for being late and blaming a taxi driver in India. Just then the choir begins to sing another song, and Pfeni asks why Tess is listening to that particular recording. Tess explains she's doing a biography of her mother's early life for a summer school project. She goes on to say that she hates living in England and wants to go to university in the States but her mother won't let her because she thinks American universities are declining.

Tess's mother Sara comes in and greets Pfeni happily. After a bit of small talk about Pfeni's writing career and how it's not as successful...