Five Evenings

The action takes place in Leningrad.

First evening. Zoya and Ilyin are sitting in a room. Zoya is a shop assistant in a grocery store. Ilyin is in Leningrad on vacation; he lives somewhere in the North. His vacation is ending — soon he must leave. He tells Zoya that in the neighboring building, above the pharmacy, lived his first love, a beauty whom her friends called Star. He corresponded with her throughout the war, and then stopped writing. Ilyin wants to see what she is like now. He promises Zoya he will return soon, quickly gets ready, and goes to find out whether she still lives there.

Second evening. Ilyin, Slava, and Katya are festively tidying the entire apartment for Tamara’s arrival. At first Tamara, when she arrives, does not like that someone is managing her house without her, but then she gladly invites everyone to the table for dinner. When Katya and Slava leave, Tamara sings to the guitar a song that she and Ilyin sang many years ago: “My dear, my sweet...” Unexpectedly she says it would have been terrible if she had married someone. Ilyin asks her to repeat that, but Tamara does not answer. The light goes out in the room.

Third evening. Katya, who works at the switchboard, hears Ilyin telling Zoya that he will not be able to come. The action shifts to Tamara’s room. Ilyin is about to leave and invites Tamara to go with him, though not to Podgorsk, but to the North, where he is thinking of taking a job as a driver, abandoning engineering. Tamara does not understand why he should give everything up and go North, and refuses the invitation. Ilyin sends her to the store under the pretext of buying him food for the road, and leaves without saying goodbye. Slava forbids Tamara to chase after Ilyin. He does not want Tamara to humiliate herself.

Fourth evening. The room of Timofeyev, Ilyin’s friend. Tamara is looking for Ilyin here. Hearing her voice, he asks Timofeyev not to betray him and hides. Timofeyev tells Tamara he has not seen Ilyin for a long time. At that moment Timofeyev receives a call from the chemical plant in Podgorsk. Tamara learns that Ilyin lied to her about his life, appropriating Timofeyev’s biography, and that in reality he is a driver in the North. Timofeyev considers Ilyin scatterbrained, but Tamara ardently defends him. She leaves her address for Ilyin and goes away. Timofeyev advises Ilyin to catch up with Tamara and beg her forgiveness. For Ilyin this is out of the question. He leaves.

Fifth evening. Katya tells the distressed Tamara about Zoya’s existence. Tamara decides to look for Ilyin there. However, Ilyin has parted ways with Zoya. Tamara does not find him. Zoya speaks to her insultingly, and Tamara leaves, having achieved nothing.