Summary

Act One is subtitled “Winter.” Scene 1 is set in the family living room. Ernestine hems a pair of her father’s trousers, while Godfrey polishes his shoes with a piece of newspaper. The radio playing in another apartment is heard in the background. As Godfrey brags about how admired his shoes are, Ernestine tells the audience that the family is staying in because a short while before, “a madman went on a rampage” killing people “with a bread knife” (15). Godfrey complains about how unpleasant it is for country people to live in crowded city conditions, saying that God has left the city. He asks Ernestine about the mail, anxiously awaiting the newest letter from Father Divine with the answers to his questions.

The sound of the radio in the background changes, with “laughter, then gunshots, emanat[ing] from behind the wall” (16). Godfrey...