A world-renowned and much-respected anthropologist, Vivian is most comfortable in her world of quiet solitude, balking at even the idea of interaction with the outside world. Her life is abruptly changed, however, when her ex-husband shows up and asks Vivian to take their thirteen-year-old autistic daughter, Lucy.

Reluctantly, Vivian agrees, although motherhood is something that she never desired. Overwhelmed by the particulars of Lucy's care and unable to connect with her daughter at first, Vivian soon realizes that Lucy isn't that different from her—socially awkward, emotionally withholding, and reclusive—and slowly comes to believe that she and Lucy are the next step in the evolutionary chain. A powerful play about the relationship between mother and daughter, the power of love, and the rare moments in life when something, or someone, comes along and forces us to re-evaluate our own lives and the way we respond to the world around us.