Viktor Ryzhakov became the Sovremennik Theater's artistic director, after the death of Galina Volchek, who directed the troupe for almost half a century and enjoyed absolute authority. For the first production in the theater, the new artistic director chooses a play about a family whose members no longer understand each other. While working on the play, the director and the actors are becoming more and more like the characters of the future performance. It is also difficult for them to find mutual understanding within their "theatrical family”.