The play is set in the preparations for an entry in a theatre festival. Apart from the producer Pat (either gender), all characters are identified by their parts in the play under rehearsal. They have not been type-cast, so there is scope for some contrasting characterisation; for instance, Gail, in real life a student, is a less experienced and competent actress than Anne, and much more agreeable.
Characters
Pat The producer of a festival play.
John Thirtyish, single, amiable and rather naive.
Connie Hotel owner; in her mid-fifties, rather absent-minded.
Anne Connie's daughter and business manager; wholesome and intelligent. She and John are on very friendly terms, but both diffident about presuming on them.
Brinsley Owner and technical director of Brinsley Biotechnics. Capable, businesslike and straightforward. Described as "a big chap".
Gail A television journalist, glamorous, ambitious and without scruple.
Two stage hands briefly visible but silent.
The following characters, specified for the festival play, are played by other members of the depleted company. If necessary, Connie could likewise be doubled by Gail, after the appropriate request by Pat.
Bill A colleague of John, older and wiser.
Harry A younger colleague, something of a Lothario.
Mcleod Brinsley's engineering assistant, sound but unimaginative.
Set
A rehearsal room during preparations for an entry in the local drama festival. Part of the stage represents an actual stage; another serves as a waiting area. The décor may be incomplete. Two temporary backgrounds are required; the method suggested is to use translucent panels set up so that when normally front-lit, they appear blank, while back-lighting reveals scenes painted on the reverse, showing respectively a laboratory scene with benches and glove-boxes, and the beach in front of a seaside hotel. However, any other effective way of meeting the same requirement is acceptable. A representation of a car, with practical doors, is in all remaining respects rather crude. Otherwise, set and stage properties may be as near to their intended final state as taste and circumstances suggest. Different locations are indicated by lighting changes.
After Pat's last interjection, the distinction between the rehearsal and the actual performance is progressively blurred. Any light on the waiting area is therefore dimmed out, and the whole emotional tone of the production darkens.