Summary
In 1991, Mikhail celebrates his sixtieth birthday in a Moscow hotel; outside, communist reactionaries are attempting a coup. Mikhail has gathered together an uneasy group: his two ex-wives, and their new husbands, his disgruntled daughter Masha, and his young fiancíee Lydia, Masha's flatmate. Meanwhile, an American, Mary, frantically searches for her lost granddaughter. Using a recent event in Russia's volatile political history as its backdrop, this poignantly explores many themes pertinent to Russia and the West, from historical determinism to the conflict between generations.