Stranger Than Paradise

The interrelationships between Hungarian Eva, her New York residing hipster cousin Willie who distances himself from family and his Hungarian heritage, and Willie's best friend Eddie are presented in three acts. In Act One, Eva has just arrived in New York - her first time in the United States - and will be staying with Willie in his stark and bleak one room apartment for ten days before she heads to Cleveland to take care of their Aunt Lotte. Aunt Lotte asked Willie to do her and Eva this favor, but he makes it clear to both women that he does not want Eva there, and does not want Eva to *be* Hungarian let alone speak Hungarian. Eddie, on the other hand, likes his friend's cousin, but Eva is still left to her own devices without much to do. An incident before Eva's departure to Cleveland changes the dynamic between the three. In Act Two, Willie and Eddie, who have just come into a windfall albeit by less than ethical means, decide to visit Eva and by association Aunt Lotte in Cleveland. Both Aunt Lotte and Eva are happy to see the pair, but a year and distance may have changed the situation between the three, while the location does nothing to add to it. In Act Three which immediately follows Act Two, Willie and Eddie, on the spur of the moment, decide to invite Eva to Florida with them rather than return back to New York, if only to escape winter. There, Willie and Eddie are more concerned with the routine of their lives and what they know, however unimaginative, than they are with being in Florida or with Eva. Eva, coming upon an opportunity, has to decide what to do about her life in the US as a whole.