Its story features only three characters: Deeley, Kate and Anna. On the surface, 'Old Times' offers the simple premise that Anna has come from Italy to visit an old friend Kate, and her husband Deeley in their house by the sea. Yet almost from the beginning there are tensions between the three characters, and an apparent contest for Kate's affection. While hostilities are rarely overtly expressed, the characters seems to be locked in a struggle for power which reaches back in to the past. Through conversations and reminiscences, their histories and personalities are exposed, but it seems unlikely that everything we hear is accurate, particularly as many of the accounts contradict each other. The question arises about whose memories are actually true.