After thirty years in the Engineering shop, Albert is given early retirement. His colleagues have organised a party in the pub, complete with strippergram. Mrs Sullivan, carrying a torch for Albert, has baked a cake in memory of what could have been. However, drink loosens more than her tongue and whilst Julie is protecting Mrs Sullivan's modesty, and trying to fend off the odius Kevin's unwelcome advances, a practival joker's pet tarantula escapes. Albert appears, but seems oddly detached from the proceedings - as though he was not really there.... he 'freeze-frames' the action to wryly observe the mayhem, but the mood of the play suddenly shifts from the early comedy and we are unprepared for the startling climax.