The Garden Party focuses on family relationships. It is Richard's seventieth birthday. To his Isle of Wight home come his children - Sam, unhappily married, and bringing her autistic son, Miles; Charlie, a discontented alcoholic with numerous chips on his shoulder; and Ben, whose generosity and sense of fun draw attention away from a mystery at the heart of his life. With Ben arrives Brice, an expected addition to the party and, in some quarters, an unwelcome one: for Brice was the first husband of Richard's wife, Jan, and is the real father to her children. The scene is set for a day and a night of revelations, arguments and moments of tenderness as the family seeks to resolve its difficulties and to put the past behind all of its members.