Don is a con artist trying to swindle customers into learning a fraudulent language, Unamunda, and Dawn is a shy 28-year-old woman with a stutter.
[1] Dawn di Vito wanders into an office, hoping to learn Unamunda, an Esperanto-like language.
When Dawn tries to pay for the lesson, Don stops her and reveals his intention: to con people out of their money by teaching them a fraudulent language.
She refuses, telling Don that the language is more than just a method of communication; it is also a bond of love shared between the two of them.
The Universal Language premiered Off-Broadway at the Primary Stages in 1993, as part of the short one-act plays of All in the Timing.