Father William Doherty: an elderly, idealistic Catholic priest
Niles and Vita were originally called Niles and Vita Heron, but Wilson changed their names when it was pointed out that "Vita Heron" sounded like Vita Herring, a brand of herring.
Plot summary
A nuclear accident has occurred in a remote section of New Mexico, and two couples who had been traveling through the area are forced to stop and seek shelter while awaiting further word from the authorities. They find shelter at a small Catholic mission ministering to impoverished local Native Americans. The first couple consists of a middle-aged professor and his attractive young wife. He is being taken to a sanitarium near Phoenix after a recent nervous breakdown. The professor has become disillusioned with academia, and now likes to rant that education itself is an evil. The second couple are a wealthy middle-aged widow and her much younger lover, an aspiring tennis pro. He initially appears to be merely a toy, but it gradually becomes clear that she loves him deeply and is terrified of losing him. While at the mission, the couples encounter Father Doherty, an elderly priest who runs the mission. Doherty relies heavily on his foster son, Don Tabaha, a young Native American. Doherty wants desperately for Tabaha to stay in New Mexico and continue working at the mission, but Tabaha wants nothing more than to get away and leave the poverty of New Mexico. All characters' future plans are put on hold, while they wait to learn whether the nuclear accident can be resolved. If the problem is fixed, they must all make difficult decisions and move on with their lives. If not, they may all die there at the mission.
The reviewer for The Christian Science Monitor wrote: "Traditional in form, the play involves a contemporary phenomenon: the incidental threats posed by a nuclear age. But it is primarily about individual responsibility, vocation, and personal fulfillment... Although Mr. Wilson's partial resolution of the central conflict seems rather too pat and predictable, the manner in which his characters reveal themselves to one another and the audience is theatrically engaging. Under Mr. Mason's sensitive guidance, the Circle Rep cast responds with winning conviction to the play's comic as well as its more touching moments, to the frequently sharp exchanges, and to the passages of Wilsonian eloquence."
