The Tomorrow Box
by Anne Chislett

THE STORY: The setting is a farm in rural Ontario, where Jack and Maureen Cooper have made their lives and raised their many children.

But now, nearing retirement age, Jack (without consulting Maureen) has sold the farm to one of their sons, Joe, with the thought that he and Maureen can retire to Florida and a life of ease.

However Maureen, who finds out about the sale from her daughter-in-law, Alice, is devastated by the prospect of leaving all the things and people who mean so much to her, and deeply hurt that Jack would make such crucial plans without her knowledge.

Egged on by Lisa, Alice's sister and a radical feminist lawyer, Maureen decides to go to court to block the sale—and the fur really begins to fly in the Cooper household.

Maureen moves out and, after forty years as a dutiful wife and mother, starts her own business; while Jack storms off to Florida by himself.

Before long, however, Jack comes to realize not only that he needs and loves Maureen, but also that she is an independent and capable human being, and not merely his chattel.

As the play ends he is back, wiser and more humble, and ready to start a new life and a new marriage—but this time on terms to which they both agree.