Dec 29, 2009

Street Scene | Act 1 Summary

Street Scene opens outside a brownstone tenement (apartment building) in New York City in the evening. Dwellers are seen in their windows and meeting outside on the stoop. They exchange small talk about the hot weather and their neighbors. Several women gossip about Mrs. Maurrant whom they believe is having an affair with the milk company bill collector, Steve Sankey, right under her husband’s nose. Their suspicions seem con- firmed when Mr. Maurrant comes home and announces he will be working out of town the next day, which pleases his wife.

Sankey walks by, ostensibly...