The setting is the Municipal Theater in Stockton-on-Tees, a provincial town in the north of England. The view is of the stage, from the audience’s perspective. 

The curtain rises a couple feet and then falls again, revealing a whiskey bottle. The introductory music starts and stops repeatedly. Tim comes out on stage to apologize for the performance starting late. As he speaks, the audience can hear Belinda and Dotty yelling at each other about Frederick backstage and hear sounds of physical violence. As Tim finishes his announcement, Poppy makes the same announcement over the speakers. Tim notices the whiskey bottle and takes it backstage with him.

Dotty, as Mrs. Clackett, limps on stage, the sardine plate in one hand and sardines in the other. The set phone fails to ring when it should, and she glares at it until it starts to ring. After putting the sardines on the plate, Mrs. Clackett answers the phone, talking about the Brents being in Spain. She puts the plate down next to the newspaper, uses one section of it to wipe her hands, and accidentally covers the plate with the rest of the newspaper.