The plays follows the relationship between 26-year-old student Rita and Frank, a middle-aged university lecturer. Rita is a Liverpudlian working class hairdresser. It follows them over a year. Act 1 consists of seven scenes. These run from January to May. Act 2 consists of a further seven. These run from September to December. In the play Frank has no surname. When the film was made he became Dr. Frank Bryant.