The hair must not be sold, but is to be donated to the Museum of Music after his death.
The struggle between pragmatic husband (commerce) and his idealistic wife (art), decisions about whether to help the hardly perfect Daddy achieve "a velvet ending" to ease his suffering and sell the precious artifact, is the crux of the play. Little by little family secrets are revealed, and there is a surprise twist (or two) at the end.

This is a four character play: (a fifth gay character figures prominently but does not appear)

Burton Keith is shown in bed as a dying man and in life as a middle aged, strong and strong willed professor of music.

His daughter, Elise, is in her late thirties or early forties,

Her husband, Andrew, is a businessman in his early forties. He offers bits of comic relief.

Hannah is a young Polish nurses caretaker.