Two minutes into the second act, there is a knock on Nicolas Boehlmer's
dressing-room door, just as he's smoking his last cigarette before
having to go back on stage... and, without thinking, he says, "Come in,"
still in character. He quickly finds himself bound, gagged, and stripped
by a man who appears to be his mirror image: costumed in the same wig,
makeup, and clothes. Nicolas is powerless to prevent his usurper from
going out and playing his role--with increasingly ridiculous
consequences. Is this "upstaging" the act of a depraved amateur?
Sabotage by a rival? A piece of guerrilla theater? A political
statement? Whatever the cause, Nicolas and his fellow actors soon find
their play--and their lives--making less and less sense, as the parts
they play come under assault by this irrational intruder.