The entire runtime of the play takes place in the kitchen of its protagonist, Germaine Lauzon. She begins the play by quarreling with her adult daughter Linda. Linda wants to go out and spend time with her boyfriend. Germaine wants her to stay and take part in a small party she is hosting.
She has recently won a large number of trading stamps, tokens of an early customer loyalty program issued by many Canadian department and grocery stores in the early 1960s. As part of the credit redemption process, she needs to paste them into booklets, so she has called her friends over to her home to help her do so. Her sister Rose calls and Linda answers the phone. Germaine criticizes her manners.
People begin to arrive, including Rose, Marie-Ange, Lisette, Yvette, Des-Neiges, and Gabrielle. Marie-Ange complains in a soliloquy about the fact that Germaine, who is wealthier than she is, has won this prize, as she does not need it. Then, later, in a chorus of voices in unison, the women complain about the dull drudgery of their lives: taking care of kids, cleaning, cooking, and various other mundane tasks. Lisette and Marie-Ange bicker about class, as Lisette thinks Marie-Ange talking about Europe is irritating and Marie-Ange dislikes the way Lisette speaks.
Yvette talks about her daughter's marriage and honeymoon. Then, Rose expresses concern when one of the women says they saw her son Michel kissing one of her neighbor's daughters. Germaine re-enters the room and, at the end of the conversation about Yvette's daughter, notes that they weren't invited to the wedding. Various people complain about the volume of the radio. Thérèse and her mother-in-law Olivine come back into the room after Olivine has fallen. Olivine attempts to bite Germaine's hand.
Thérèse talks about the difficulties she faces as Olivine's primary caretaker, dressing and washing her every day, like a child. She says that one day she poured molasses all over herself and it took a long time to clean up. Everyone else says she is a saint, but she says she is just trying to get through each day. Germaine is annoyed when she realizes Linda has secretly left and complains that she doesn't help her. They all complain about their kids. In another soliloquy, Rose describes the chaos at her oldest son's house, as his wife has taken in a large number of birds.
Marie-Ange complains about the inherent unfairness of lotteries and contests, but Germaine says she is just mad because she hasn't won anything yet. They settle the disagreement, but Marie-Ange begins taking some of the stamps quietly, as do the other guests. They talk about word puzzles and crosswords. Yvette gives a soliloquy and talks about her daughter's wedding cake, describing it in detail. Yvette and Rose bicker about a fur coat.
Rose then begins to talk about Des-Neiges's feelings for a traveling salesman who stops at her door frequently. Des-Neiges then gives a soliloquy about how intense her affection for this man has become. Linda returns with her friend Lise and begins to quarrel with her mother, and then with her aunt Rose. Then everything erupts into further discord. Linda nearly leaves again but then runs into Angéline and Rhéuana outside and decides to stay. Germaine gives a soliloquy about her other sister, Pierrette, and then discusses her fall from social grace in their community. Pierrette then appears at the door.
In the second act, everyone is shocked by Pierrette's appearance, particularly Germaine, who tells her to leave. They are also upset to learn that Angéline spends time at the club where Pierrette works. Angéline says she has done nothing wrong and this is just a place she goes to socialize, but they rebuke her harshly. The younger women, Linda, Ginette, and Lise, all say that they are overreacting about the club. They offer their opinions about different social functions in the town, including their preferred priest and a regular bingo game.
Lise pulls Linda aside to say that she is pregnant. Pierrette overhears and offers to help Lise get an abortion. Linda talks to Robert on the phone and they have a disagreement. In her soliloquy, Pierrette reveals that her partner Johnny is unreliable and that she feels increasingly trapped in the circumstances of her life. Rose and Lise get into a heated argument when Rose says that unmarried women who get pregnant deserve no sympathy. Rose delivers her soliloquy, giving a bleak portrait of her entrapment in a loveless marriage with a husband who disgusts her. Angéline repents for going to the club and is welcomed back into the circle. Pierrette finds her behavior absurd and decides to leave. Germaine realizes they've been stealing her stamps and a physical altercation ensues, as people try to grab the stamps. A mess is left in the aftermath and the whole group sings "O Canada'' as stamps fall from the ceiling.
