Tracy Letts

Beverly Weston, a poet and alcoholic, delivers a rambling monologue about life, his wife Violet's pill addiction, and his own drinking. He then introduces himself to Johnna, his new housekeeper, and learns about her background and the recent death of her father.

A drug-addled Violet Weston interrupts her husband Beverly while he is interviewing a new live-in housekeeper. Violet's erratic behavior and slurred speech reveal the depth of her addiction and the toxic dynamic of her marriage, culminating in a sharp verbal assault on her husband.

Violet, a pill-addicted matriarch, interrogates her daughter Ivy about a phone call to her sister Barb regarding their father's disappearance. Violet expresses her frustration and inability to cope with the household responsibilities now thrust upon her, revealing her dependency and the family's dysfunction.

Beverly Weston, a cynical and alcoholic poet, delivers a weary monologue to a prospective housekeeper about his marriage and the 'cruel covenant' he shares with his pill-addicted wife, Violet. He explains his decision to hire help not out of status, but because his domestic responsibilities are interfering with his drinking.