In a time of national tragedy, the world changes overnight. On September 12, 2001, Ben Harcourt finds himself in the downtown apartment of his lover, Abby Prescott. Over the course of the night, Ben and Abby explore the choices now available to them in an existence different from the one they knew just the day before.

In one of the first major theatrical responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks Neil LaBute's The Mercy Seat presents the brutal realities of a relationship and explores whether one can be truly opportunistic in a time of universal selflessness.