The action unfolds in a seaside castle where three male guests—a pair of established playwrights and a young composer—occupy a sitting room while awaiting the return of a celebrated singer. Their talk mixes affectionate professional banter and meta-theatrical reflections on how plays begin with eager plans to surprise the absent guest by presenting a newly finished operetta and its main waltz. Over three acts the piece balances light comedy, romantic expectation, and the rituals of leisure, using entrances, household interactions, and night-time circumstances to generate small crises, revelations, and ironic observations about artistic ambition and companionship.