Summary

The Blake family gathers for Thanksgiving dinner. Patriarch Erik is the first character seen by the audience, as he reacts nervously to loud noises coming from upstairs. As the evening progresses, these noises continue. Erik is the only one who reacts, with Brigid reassuring him that there is nothing to worry about, saying they are caused by the Chinese woman who lives in the flat upstairs.

Meanwhile, conversation and action reveal that Erik has not been sleeping; that Deirdre (Erik’s wife) takes care of Erik’s mother, Momo, who is suffering from dementia; that younger daughter, Aimee, has just broken up with her girlfriend, Carol; and that older daughter Brigid and her boyfriend Richard have just moved into a two-story apartment, which is where the family meal is being held. Throughout these conversations, Momo mutters incoherently in her wheelchair, her words underscoring...