Marion (Gena Rowlands) is a woman who has learned to shield herself from her emotions. She rents an apartment to work undisturbed on her new book, but by some acoustic anomaly she can hear all that is said in the next apartment in which a psychiatrist holds his office. When she hears a young woman tell that she finds it harder and harder to bear her life, Marion starts to reflect on her own life. After a series of events she comes to understand how her unemotional attitude towards the people around her affected them and herself.

Bedford Street and Barrow Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

Barrow Street and Commerce Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street and Bedford Street, Manhattan.   The Cherry Lane Theatre was built in 1817 and is New York City's oldest, continuously running off-Broadway theater. The Cherry Lane contains a 179-seat main stage and a 60-seat studio.