A group of congenial friends have restored several adjoining houses in one of New York's more attractive neighborhoods, and plan to move in en masse—setting up an urban enclave. However, one of their number, a confirmed bachelor, has resolved to confront the others with the fact of his long-concealed homosexuality and to bring along his young male lover as a permanent addition to the group.
Although his educated, liberal friends have always prided themselves on their tolerance and openmindedness, they are outraged, and the enclave itself is imperiled. But as, in the developing crisis, the particular nature of each other character is exposed and explored, it is evident that they are not above reproach themselves—and the ultimate lesson of the play is one of forbearance and understanding and the need for fairness in judging those whose lifestyle may diverge from the conventional.
The play, first produced in 1973, exposes hypocrisy and heartbreak among a liberal group of friends when one of their own reveals a long-concealed secret about his lifestyle. The New York Times described The Enclave as: “an attractively hard-edged style, with jokes cracking like ice in extra-dry martinis."
