The action of the play takes place in the street in front of the Manhattan apartment house where John Lennon was shot to death. Deeply moved and shocked by this awful event, many New Yorkers spontaneously assembled there to pay tribute to their slain idol, and it is from the interwoven stories of a cross section of these people that the author builds his play. Included are a young advertising executive and a ”women's libber,” a group of high school students, a pair of Vietnam vets, an elderly Jewish man from a neighboring building, and a hip young black would-be comic. Through the interaction of these people, sometimes humorous, sometimes moving, sometimes menacing, the author points up the larger significance of the event which has brought them together—the shock wave which was felt across the nation by this further evidence of the violence and ugliness lurking in our communal soul.

         Fran: A native New Yorker and sharp-tongued legal            secretary with intellectual pretensions. 

• The Advertising Executive: An ambitious, fast-talking professional trying to process the tragedy while maintaining his upward-mobile drive. 
• The High School Students (Mikey, Kevin, and Sally): A trio of teenagers dealing with adolescent angst, shock, and profound grief over the loss of their musical idol. 
• The Vietnam Vets (Silvio and Gately): A pair of troubled, cynical war veterans who oscillate between philosophizing and scheming small-time thefts. 
• The Elderly Jewish Man: A retired vaudevillian/immigrant from a neighboring building who wanders into the vigil bewildered by the massive crowds before connecting with others. 
• The Young Black Would-Be Comic: A hip youth with aspirations of stand-up comedy who forms an unexpected bond with the older Jewish man