Tenderness and Joy is about one weekly newspaper and four people working there who are friends as well as coworkers. Well, sort of. The paper's idiosyncratic street columnist barely tolerates his editor, who in turn respects his talent but feels he is constantly glorifying marginal behavior. The paper's theatre and film writer is friends with both the columnist and the editor but as a result, is caught between them at times. Anchoring things is the paper's office manager and receptionist, who has a disability that makes it hard for her to hold things in short-term memory but whose offbeat personality attracts men, including the theatre and film writer. The interplay between these four people over six months' time as different life events unfold make for the drama of the play. In the end, the common theme of compassion as the royal road to friendship and one's own personal happiness emerges in an entertaining and affirming way. Whatever our differences, we can all love each other in the moment.
