The play introduces its setting—a small country cottage in Ballybeg, Ireland—through the looking-back perspective of Michael Evans. Michael recalls the summer of 1936 when he was seven years old, living with his mother—Christina—and four aunts—Kate, Maggie, Rose, and Agnes. Michael relates that during this summer, the family bought their first wireless radio. They discussed naming the radio Lugh after the pagan god of the upcoming Lughnasa Harvest Festival, but the staunchly Catholic Kate disapproved. Thus, they agreed to name the radio for its brand, Marconi.

Michael also explains that during the summer, his uncle Jack returned to Ireland sick with malaria after twenty-five years serving at a Ugandan leper colony. Michael suggests that in his memory, the sound of Marconi is linked to Jack’s return. Jack seems to have forgotten his sisters’ names—referring to them as Okawa, his Ugandan house boy—along with many words in the English language. He also appears to have foregone the family’s Catholic faith for beliefs of Ugandan tribes. Michael recalls an old picture of his uncle in British military uniform, commenting on the drastic difference between his childhood imagination and the reality of Jack’s condition.