The Play's the Thing

Turai and his collaborator bring a young composer, Albert Adam, on a surprise visit to a castle on the Italian Rivera with their prima donna, Ilona, Albert's fiancee. The pointed and deadly barbs fly fast and furiously among this group of charming sophisticates. When Albert overhears his beloved being wooed in her boudoir, Turai tells him it is all a silly mistake, explaining to the besotted young man that the passionate scene was merely a rehearsal for a new play. To support his fabrication, Turai stays up all night to write a play, including the overheard love talk. The next day during a public rehearsal the suggestive dialogue is reborn as an innocent, harmless bit of theatre-play.