The setting is one of extreme simplicity. In the theatre, the curtain rises to reveal a faintly lit stage littered with the miscellaneous rubbish of everyday life. There is no order to this world: 'no verticals, all scattered and lying'.

The stage lighting increases to a gloomy half-light upon the sound of a 'faint brief cry' and correspondingly fades back to only faint illumination as the cry is repeated.

In the film version, the set - strewn with modern-day rubbish - materialises out of the dark void. A deep inhalation of breath is heard as the camera closes on the rather brightly gleaming set. The camera ends its cyclical movement in parallel with the sound of an exhalation of breath, darkness then engulfing all.