The play frequently breaks the fourth wall when the characters directly narrate the events in the story to the audience.
The play starts with a prologue, in which June Muldoon explains that the town of Gray, Indiana is a very boring place.
[1] The play then shifts to the funeral service of Adam Muldoon, June's late father and dedicated town farmer.
After feeling immense grief at her father's loss, and seeing her mother's endless sorrow, June writes a letter to God in which she wishes for her town to receive a doctor, so that "nobody will ever die again."
In the meantime, Gray falls in love with Rebekah Muldoon, June's mother, who is revealed to be pregnant with her late husband's daughter.