In another recurring theme of Eliot's plays, the Christian martyrdom of the mistress character is seen as a sacrifice that permits the predominantly secular life of the community to continue.

Edward Chamberlayne's wife Lavinia has left him, after five years of marriage, just as they are about to host a cocktail party at their London home.

She, at the psychiatrist's urging, sets out upon the path to sainthood, embracing a life of greater honesty and salvation that leads her to become a Christian mystic fated to endure martyrdom on the fictional Eastern island of Kinkanja.

(The self-deception of 'the hearth' contrasted with the terrors of the path to sainthood:) CELIA...everyone's alone - or so it seems to me.They make noises, and think they are talking to each other;They make faces, and think they understand each other... Act IALEXWatch over her in the desert.Watch over her in the mountain.Watch over her in the labyrinth.Watch over her by the quicksand.JULIAProtect her from the VoicesProtect her from the VisionsProtect her in the tumultProtect her in the silenceAct IIAfter its debut at the Edinburgh Festival in 1949 with Alec Guinness in the role of the unidentified guest, produced by Henry Sherek and directed by E. Martin Browne,[5] The Cocktail Party premiered on Broadway on 21 January 1950 at the Henry Miller's Theatre and ran for 409 performances.

Produced by Gilbert Miller[6][7][dubious – discuss] and directed by E. Martin Browne, the production starred Guinness as the mysterious stranger.

[citation needed] Guinness returned to the role of the unidentified guest at the Chichester Festival Theatre under his own direction in 1968, taking the production to London later in the year.