Glenn and Suzanne are theatre professors at a University. They enjoy a playful, tempestuous marriage surrounded by students and family. Their two sons Nicholas and Chris have grown up and left the nest, making homes in New York. When Glenn becomes ill with cancer, the family waits out his last summer days together, and his eventual death prompts curious, contradictory reactions. Unable and ill equipped to attend to their mounting emotional needs, the family implodes, finding release in alternatively abhorrent and comic ways.