Plot
In the small town of Brachen, Switzerland, the townspeople are poor. They are told that Claire Zachanassian, a former resident and now the world's richest women (by virtue of many fortunate marriages), will pay a visit. The townspeople see Claire as their last hope ("Out of the Darkness"). Claire, who has an artificial leg, arrives in a puff of train steam, carried by Jacob Chicken and Louis Perch, (freed from jail by Claire). She is escorted by her entourage: the falsetto-singing eunuchs Lenny and Benny, her butler Rudi and her latest much-younger husband Evgeny. ("At Last", "I Walk Away"). Anton, the town's shopkeeper and Claire's former lover still has feelings for her, and thinks that they might renew their romance ("I Know Claire"). Although Claire and Anton reminisce about their youthful affair, and the Young Anton and Young Claire dreamily dance ("You, You, You"), Claire soon reveals her macabre plan. Claire explains that she was pregnant by Anton as a teen, but because of Anton's false testimony, was forced to leave the town. She explains that the true purpose of her visit is to seek revenge, and offers to give the people billions if they will kill Anton.
The townspeople are at first repelled, but gradually rationalize their desire for material possessions ("Yellow Shoes"). Anton ultimately realizes that he is to blame for the misery that Claire has endured, and accepts responsibility ("Fear"). He and his family take one last joyful car-ride together ("A Car Ride"), and Claire and Anton make peace with the fate to come ("In the Forest Again"). The townspeople murder Anton ("Finale").
Read more about this topic: The Visit (musical)
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—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
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“Morality for the novelist is expressed not so much in the choice of subject matter as in the plot of the narrative, which is perhaps why in our morally bewildered time novelists have often been timid about plot.”
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