CHRYSANTHEMUM EFFECT is the story of an American family, set to the backdrop of the nation’s bicentennial. Tensions build as a father and husband lies near death, fueling the fireworks that forever scatter Rose, her daughter and two stepdaughters. Act One is a discordant, downward spiral, centering on the dying father and the breakup of the family. The father, never seen on stage, is the only tie holding them together: without him the family flies apart. The explosive dynamics between Rose and her daughter and stepdaughters dominate the action. Act Two takes the remnants of the shattered family and rebuilds them into a harmonic resolution of loss and love.