Sidney Howard's warm, wry comedy tells the story of the Haggett family, down-to-earth New England farmers who years earlier took in a shabby, penniless painter named Christopher Bean as a boarder, tolerating his eccentric habits and unsold canvases out of simple kindness. When word arrives after his death that Bean was in fact an unrecognized genius and his paintings are now worth a fortune, the family is suddenly besieged by unscrupulous art dealers and long-lost admirers all scheming to get their hands on the remaining works. Amid the sudden greed and hypocrisy swirling around them, it is revealed that the family's own quiet, overlooked housemaid, Abby, was the only person who truly loved and understood Bean, and that she has secretly kept his best paintings and even a child fathered by him all along. The comedy skewers the way fame and money corrupt people's memories and motives, while Abby's steadfast devotion offers a gently moving counterpoint to the surrounding scramble for profit. It won considerable acclaim in its original Broadway run and became a durable favorite for community and college theaters thanks to its rich comic roles and its bittersweet, human-scaled resolution.

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