The Family Upstairs

About the show

The Hellers are a middle-class family that love one another, but often become quarrelsome due to being constrained to share a small apartment. Their eldest daughter, Louise, has taken a job just to get away from her family a few hours each day. When the play opens, the Hellers take their meals in the parlor as their dining room is being redone by painters. The parents, Emma and Joe, worry over the two older children: Emma is sure Louise will never have a boyfriend or get married, while Joe frets over Willie's lack of ambition for either school or work. Each champions the child whom the other worries about. Meanwhile, little Annabelle makes desultory classic noises on the upright piano when driven to it, but sings Red Hot Mama when freed. At dinner, Louise startles everyone by announcing that Charles Grant is coming to call. She met him at a party a few weeks earlier and they plan to go boating on Sunday. Charles proves a personable lad, and Emma tries to make Louise seem a "catch" by inflating the family's economic status. When the couple are left alone, Charles proposes to Louise, who accepts, but wants the engagement to remain a secret from her family for now. When Charles comes to collect Louise on Sunday morning, he is made aware of the inflated expectations for modern brides through the chatter of Miss Callahan. Emma again paints a rosy picture of Louise's many (fictional) suitors and the family circumstances. When Louise appears, Charles tells her he feels his salary is inadequate to support her. Louise flies into a rage at her family, denigrating them in front of Charles. She breaks off the engagement—the first her family has heard of it—and exits, as does Charles. A few hours later, Louise informs her parents she is leaving. Before she does, Willie notices Charles sitting on the front stoop. Joe sends Willie down with a tale to get Charles back up to the apartment. Joe also phones Mrs. Grant, who arrives with Herbert in tow. Herbert is told to go play with Annabelle, but demurs until Willie marches him out of the parlor. The three adults then open up about their aspirations for the young couple, who are reconciled, with Emma and Louise apologising to each other.