The play is set over three Christmas celebrations in the kitchens of three couples: Sidney Hopcroft, an ambitious tradesman, and his submissive wife Jane; architect and adulterer Geoffrey Turner and his depressed wife, Eva; Ronald Brewster-Wright, a banker, and his wife Marion. The three couples range from working to upper class.
‘Last’ Christmas is set at Sidney’s house, who hopes to persuade the others to invest in his work – although both Geoffrey and Roland are obviously dismissive of the man and dislike him. Throughout the scene, Jane’s harsh treatment by Sidney becomes apparent, as does the way she rises above it. It also becomes obvious that Geoffrey and Eva’s marriage is on the rocks and that in Roland, Geoffrey sees the potential for helping with a new commission for a shopping centre.
‘This’ Christmas is spent at Geoffrey and Eva’s flat. Geoffrey fortunes have fallen and Eva spends most of the act attempting to commit suicide in ever-more desperate, domestic ways. Jane mistakes her attempts to gas herself for cleaning and takes over scrubbing the oven; the tablets Eva loses down the sink leads Sidney to offer to help with the plumbing – getting soaked as result; when Eva tries to electrocute herself, Ronald thinks she’s trying to change bulbs and takes over for her. In despair, she starts singing a Christmas carol as Geoffrey arrives with a doctor in tow. During all this, Marion has been getting more drunk amid all the chaos.
‘Next’ Christmas is at Roland and Marion’s mansion, where Marion has increasingly locked herself in her bedroom to be comforted by alcohol. Geoffrey’s designs for the shopping centre have collapsed and, ironically, he is now dependent on Eva. Sidney and Jane have meanwhile come up trumps as their scheme from two Christmases ago has paid off and Roland, who was dismissive of them in the first act, now has to court them to keep their business and Geoffrey desperately needs them to employ him as an architect to keep his career alive. With the fortunes of all couples now completely reversed, Sidney calls the shots and makes everyone play games and – literally - dance to his tune.