On the night before it opens and with things not going well. In the second act we hear the first act of Nothing On from backstage, after it's been running a month. The third act takes us back to the first act of Nothing On yet again, after two months of touring. It is, deliciously so, a disaster. It's not an easy play to pull off.
Timing is critical, no, more than critical.
It is the rise and fall of this play. Actors must memorize lines that ultimately don't make any sense, as well as frenetic blocking that expends more energy than a marathon. What's more it takes Marine-like discipline for the actors not to break up themselves. The Paper Mill troupe, led by Brian Murray who is reprising the role of Director Lloyd Dallas which he played on Broadway, does it admirably wellt. The rest of the cast performs well, particularly Fiona Gallagher as Brooke Ashton and Leo Leyden as Selsdon Mowbray.