Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to domestic violence, alcohol addiction, racism, and violence against a character with disabilities, which feature in the source text.

The play takes place at Regina Giddens’ house in Alabama, where she and her family are hosting Mr. William Marshall from Chicago. In the living room, two of the servants are working when Birdie, Regina’s sister-in-law, rushes inside to find a music album. Birdie, who is “usually nervous and timid” is in a hurry to show Mr. Marshall her Wagner album. She is a little drunk, and excited about having dinner with a man who loves music as much as she does, to the point where he travels to Europe for the sole purpose of hearing music.

Her husband, Oscar, enters the living room. He firmly tells his wife they must return to the dining room and tells her she must stop talking so much. He scolds her, saying, “You’ve been chattering at him like a magpie […] I can’t think he came South to be bored with you” (7). Birdie tries to defend herself, saying she is certain Mr. Marshall likes her, but Oscar shuts down her protests.