Act 1 Summary

"The Square Root of Wonderful" is the story of a woman, Mollie, who must choose between the renewed attentions of her ex-husband, Philip Lovejoy, and those of a new man in her life, John Tucker. The play takes place on an apple farm in New York in the 1950s and opens in the living room of the farmhouse where Mollie is comforting her son, Paris, who has cried out from a nightmare. The nightmare revolves around a burglar who is revealed to be Philip Lovejoy, Paris' father.

Mollie has been awake discussing plans with her new tenant, John, with whom she has recently fallen in love. Mollie had picked John up on the road where his car had broken down just ten days ago and Paris is aghast that John could have such feelings for Mollie in such a short time.

John admits...