The play revolves around Helen, a recently hired scrub-woman, at the American Biological Association Development for the Advancement of Brain Analysis.
During the course of her work, Helen learns the plight of an imprisoned intelligent dolphin that is being harshly studied by scientists.
In February 2018, David Zindel, the son of Paul Zindel, brought a plagiarism lawsuit against the makers of the film The Shape of Water, alleging that its plot about a romance between a cleaning woman and a mysterious river creature was lifted directly from Let Me Hear You Whisper.
The film contains numerous plot elements that "include the play and the movie's basic story of the lonely janitor who works at a scientific laboratory during the Cold War, forms a loving bond with a captive aquatic creature and hatches a plan to liberate it.
"[1] Fox Searchlight Pictures studio as well as the makers of the film have denied that the work was at all derived from the play.