How It All Goes Down
In Act 1, we meet a father-knows-best type named Clive, and his wife Betty. They live in a house with three kids: their adopted African child-servant, Joshua; their effeminate son, Edward; and their quiet daughter, Victoria (who's played by a doll). We learn early on that there have been some problems with the local African tribes who are living under English colonial rule. Turns out they don't like other people coming in and colonizing them. Go figure.
Early in the play, a guy named Harry Bagley pops by to say hiya. Harry and Clive go way back, and Clive admires Harry for being an explorer who has lots of adventures. Oh yes, and a woman named Mrs. Saunders pops by as well because she lives alone and is worried the Africans will attack her.
As the action unfolds, we realize that Joshua might not be all that loyal to his adopted white family. Also, he seems to have some sort of sexual relationship with Harry Bagley. And pretty much every sexual relationship you can possibly imagine gets at least hinted at in the rest of Act 1. Betty wants to be with Harry, Harry likes to have sex with both Joshua and Edward, the governess Ellen wants to be with Betty, and Clive likes to have sex with Mrs. Saunders. Act 1 closes with Joshua pointing a gun at Clive and the lights suddenly going out, which means that Joshua was definitely lying when he swore his loyalty to Clive.
In Act 2, we jump into a more modern age: 1979, to be exact. In this modern world, you don't see too many Clive-types running around telling women and black people what to do anymore. Instead, we see a world in which women and gay people have a better chance of living their lives the way they want.
In this modern setting, we follow the lives of Victoria and Edward, the two kids of Clive and Betty from Act 1. Edward has grown up to be gay and Betty is definitely entertaining the idea of having a sexual relationship with her friend Lin. Both Victoria and Lin have kids that they are trying to raise without the fathers around. As Act 2 continues, Edward and Victoria's mother Betty shows up and says that she has left Clive. The woman has been married for so long that she's having trouble adjusting to the single life, but her kids have lives of their own now and are not exactly jumping at the chance to guide her.
As the play draws to a close, Betty has a conversation with Edward's boyfriend, Gerry. The two of them talk about how complicated life and love are, and Betty ends the play by finally accepting herself for who she is, rather than what men have always wanted her to be. She ends up hugging another actor who played Betty in Act 1, so we're not misusing the word "literal" when we say that Betty literally finds herself.