Harry Nash, a hardware store clerk, has achieved a degree of local celebrity due to his powerful performances in
community theatre. Yet when not on the stage or in a rehearsal, Harry retreats into an insecure and painfully shy personality. He remains unsocial most of the time. Typically, after a performance of
Cyrano de Bergerac, Harry is not equipped to handle being besieged by local
fangirls, and he retreats in panic, as is his custom. Helene Shaw, a telephone company billing expert intending to stay in town for only eight weeks, is persuaded by a customer (the play's director) into auditioning for the role of
Stella, opposite Harry's
Stanley Kowalski in a production of
A Streetcar Named Desire. Initially during the audition Helene is stiff and awkward, but when Harry arrives, already immersed in his Stanley Kowalski persona, fireworks result between them as they relate as Stanley and Stella during the audition, continuing during rehearsals. The first night’s performance of
Streetcar is sold out, with Harry and Helene in top form and acclaimed by enthusiastic applause. Once again, Harry disappears as soon as the performance ends, before the applause even dies down. Ignoring warnings of Harry's introverted personality, Helene falls in love with Harry's "Stanley" persona. She arranges to stay in town permanently, determined to draw Harry out of his shell. Her attempts to get to know Harry better are thwarted when he continues to immediately disappear after each performance. When Helene succeeds in getting him to share a sandwich and asks him about his family, he replies that he grew up as an orphan, and quickly retreats despite her apology for prying. She mistakes his cluelessness and shyness for rejection. The awkwardness between them results in a clumsy and uneven performance on the second night of the play, but Helene bounces back in time for closing night, due to an inspiration: her closing-night gift to Harry is a copy of
Romeo and Juliet. Stepping into the Romeo role, Harry is able to read the lines and speak of love with confidence. After a series of such recitals—with Harry as
Mark Antony,
Henry Higgins, and
Henry V—Harry proposes to Helene as
Ernest Worthing, in character, acting out a scene from
Oscar Wilde's
The Importance of Being Earnest. Their friends, who witness the “performance,” applaud their engagement. The director informs Helene and Henry that the community is looking forward to their playing the leads in the company’s next production. Harry, who has Helene in his embrace, whispers in Helene’s ear and Helene interprets, “Who are we this time?” ==Cast==