There are three couples in this play, the men all working for the same firm.

One of the younger men is having an affair with the wife of the oldest, and when each returns home suspiciously late one night or early one morning they invent a story about having to spend some time soothing domestic matter in the home of the third couple.

Both living rooms are shown in the single set, and both share a common dining room which takes on a character of its own as it serves up two dinners simultaneously on two different nights. 

Of course, the third couple have to show up to put the fat in the fire, but the complication only adds to the fun of this famous farce.