Dark Eyes (play) - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

The play is set in the Field family home in Long Island, New York, on a summer day in 1942. It opens with Larry revealing that John has just phoned about his early return from Washington, D.C.; John is very weary from this business trip and doesn't want to see anyone. Helen is dismayed at this news, for she has already invited her fiancé, Nikolai, over for the evening. She then receives a telegram from Nikolai, telling her that he will be coming with three of his Russian friends for her to meet. Nervously, the two siblings prepare to receive their father, Nikolai, and three unexpected guests.

The three women - Natasha, Tonia, and Olga - arrive, and Nikolai speaks privately with them. Their conversation reveals that the three women have just been evicted; Nikolai then discovers that they wrote a check to their landlord from a closed bank account. He informs them that the police will be looking for them and advises them to be kind to the Field family as their only hope of aid. They return to the Fields' living room as John arrives home, and everyone meets and converses. The three actresses then employ their singing and dancing talents to celebrate Grandmother Field's birthday in grand style.

Tonia talks with John and discusses the difficulty of finding acting work in New York when one is typecast as a "Continental actress." She then confides in him that she and Natasha have written a play that "no-one in the world can act but we ourselves," a tragedy about two sisters still in love with a man who is dead. John is amused by the plot description and by Tonia's odd intensity, and he volunteers to pay the initial cost of their play's production: five hundred dollars, the exact amount of their bad check. The three ladies are overcome with gratitude and joy, and Act 1 ends with them weeping over their sudden good fortune.

Act 2 sets the scene in a guest bedroom, the temporary residence of Tonia and Natasha. Larry comes to the room to profess his adoration to Natasha, and his declarations are interrupted by Nikolai, who escorts the drunk Larry out and then returns to make his own confession. Nikolai tells Natasha that he still cares for her and that Helen has left him. The disbelieving Natasha chides him, reminding him of the war and scolding him for "playing love games" while Russia is fighting for its existence. She tells him that if he will do battle for their homeland, he will have her love and loyalty forever when he returns. He resolves to leave for the Army the next morning.

Natasha and Tonia, finally left alone, talk about John, and Natasha implies that he is only financing their play because he wants to sleep with Tonia. The religious Tonia is horrified and decides to call John to their room to discover the truth. He arrives, and the three argue; John eventually gives up reasoning with the women, who have come to believe that he is only backing their play out of pity and are furious. John exits, and then Tonia begins to weep; she has fallen in love with John and had hoped he would declare his feelings for her.

The next morning, Natasha discovers that Nikolai was indeed lying and that Helen had not broken their engagement. Distraught and heartbroken, both Natasha and Tonia resolve to return to New York City - on foot if they must - then decide that life is no longer worth living anywhere. They drink poison from a bottle in Natasha's suitcase and calmly sit together, awaiting death.

John then knocks on their door. He has already spoken to Olga that morning, and he explains that he knows their landlord and will take care of their financial trouble. He then gives Tonia the promised check for the play and invites them all to stay at the Field home for as long as they wish. Tonia, overjoyed, reveals that she loves him; he makes his declaration to her in return, then leaves to see Larry and Nikolai off to their enlistment in the Canadian army. Tonia suddenly remembers the poison and panics. The house flies into a flurry of concern, and amidst the hysteria, Olga enters. She smells the bottle and laughs, reminding Tonia and Natasha that she had emptied out the poison years before and replaced it with peach brandy.

The play ends with the three Russians elated, their troubles over and a rosy future ahead, and Tonia (who is to marry John) declares that she no longer wants to produce a tragedy; instead, she begins to describe her idea for a marvelous comedy, about three downtrodden actresses invited to spend a weekend in Long Island.