About the Play

The Grazianos run a pleasant little Italian restaurant in New England. Lou, the typical Italian papa, is once again urging his daughter, Angie, to marry and present him with grandchildren, while they await the arrival of Terence O’Keefe, Angie’s professor when she was attending college. Terence has written a play and has, for some time, been looking for sponsors to enable the play’s production “Off Off Broadway”. Angie, resolute and businesslike, is afraid her father may lose money by supporting such a project while at the same time she is feverishly awaiting Terence’s appearance.

On arrival, the professor soon reveals himself to be an attractive and sophisticated man of the world in his late forties who is clearly ill at ease in the role of petitioner. While Lou waits for his business associates to arrive, Angie and Terence refresh college memories. Terence regrets the fact that Angie left college prematurely as she was his most gifted student but she manages to get him to admit that his interest was not solely in her intellect! With her direct and self confident manner she quickly has the unhappily married Terence under her spell again and it is obvious that she has designs on him.

When Mike and Tino, Lou’s business friends arrive, Terence finds himself almost overwhelmed by the speed of the negotiations. Despite a certain Italian conviviality, Terence senses a scarcely perceptible note of menace, which makes him increasingly nervous. The trio is keen to produce Terence’s avant-garde thriller in which the author lays bare the deeper layers of a murderer’s psyche in a grandiose way despite their obvious (and amusing) ignorance of theatre. It has to be Broadway and big stars must be engaged.

In the middle of all this Frankie Salvucci arrives on the scene. He has debts of seven months’ standing with Lou, Mike and Tino and has come to plead for a further extension of the loan. Although apparently cheerful he is in a cold sweat of fear. But without further ado and with a pat on the back this is granted after all he is “amongst friends”. At this the professor breathes a sigh of relief; his apprehension was merely a flight of his imagination. Scarcely has Frankie left than Mike and Tino follow. Lou makes a joke about their prostates and goes to check on them. Terence has no time to ponder on all this as Angie takes his full and undivided attention by demanding he gives her a foot massage during which he witnesses strange occurrences outside the window…..

Through no initiative of his own the naive playwright has soon become almost a fully-fledged member of the Family and is unable to refuse either the associated benefits or obligations. But how far will the backing of the Grazianos take him? To Broadway, to the altar or to the river bed – with weights on his shoes?