In his novel La Terre, Zola anticipated the changes taking place in the farming world. By adapting it for the stage, Anne Barbot in turn takes a hard look at today's agricultural crisis.

Gathered around a large table, they go about their business as the audience enters the room. Between preparing soup and glasses of cider, they talk about the latest news and engage the audience. But this seemingly unified peasant family is about to falter. This is Zola in the second half of the 19th century. An industrial and social revolution is taking shape, for better or for worse. It is against this tense backdrop that old Fouan, too old to farm, bequeaths his land to his three children, plunging the family into a war of succession...