This Week on Mystery Theatre:Going Up in “The Play’s the Thing”

It’s opening night. You make your entrance, hit your mark, and then – silence. Your mind goes blank. You can’t remember your first line.

It’s called “going up” on stage – a reference to the reflexive way people have of looking up and to the side when they can’t remember something. According to actor John Mahoney, “It happens to everybody. I’ve read stories about John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Noel Coward and Olivier.”

Knowing that such luminaries have had it happen to them may make it easier fo...