Synopsis

The action of this widely produced and much-discussed play takes place in the mind, throught, and memory of Quentin, the protagonist. The author describes the drama as a man's inadvertent quest for some key to join together the elements of his experience in the world - "to find those moments of coice when action was uniquely his own." Quentin seeks this key especially in his relations with his parents, his brother, and the three women he has loved. The scenes and characters "follow the dark rivulets of memory into unexpected confrontations" - with politics, betrayal, the kept and broken promises of love, and finally with the placing of responsibility for those humans acts which shape a life.