Corey Stoll and Cecily Strong Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

What Happened Was... takes place over the course of an evening in the Manhattan studio apartment of Jackie (Cecily Strong), an executive assistant in a large downtown law firm. Jackie's home may be modest and the furniture merely functional, but she boasts an enviable view in which she can gaze out on all the other unremarkable and ordinary denizens of the city. (The scenic design by Brett J. Banakis and Christine Jones nicely captures the lived-in resourcefulness required of a tenant negotiating the confines of a single-room dwelling. Japhy Weideman's lighting, epitomized by a flickering fluorescent bulb, denotes the unglamorous realities of urban living.)

When the play begins, Jackie is a whirlwind of energy as she prepares for her date with Michael (Corey Stoll), a paralegal in the firm but who has the confidence and demeanor of a partner. She tidies up her room, puts a pre-made scallop casserole into her microwave, and elegantly arranges a cake in her finest Tupperware.

With direction by Ian Rickson, Strong and Stoll exquisitely capture the awkwardness of the dinner date. They mine the humor from the situations, but they do not milk the laughs. Their tentativeness is beautifully modulated, and they inhabit the characters' guardedness. But make no mistake, a simple gesture or a sustained gaze might betray their vulnerabilities and aching longing for human connection. These moments catch the couple unaware.

Although they are wearing their office clothes (that evoke, courtesy of Kaye Voyce's costumes, early-1990s professional chic), Jackie and Michael seem uncomfortable in their own bodies in a setting other than the office. Their conversation is tentative and blundering, and even mundane details about family and childhood homes are potential verbal minefields. "You know," Jackie admits, "you see someone every day for months and months one way and then this ... You know, it's wild."

As the evening progresses and as alcohol lubricates the conversation, Jackie and Michael gradually open up to each other. In due course, they find that they both have a passion–or near obsession–with writing. For the characters, writing offers a way to deal with feelings of isolation and is a means to achieve public validation that they so desperately desire.

He is keeping meticulous notes and recordings, which he carries at all times close to him in a well-worn briefcase, and these, he explains will be the basis for a best-selling and searing exposé about the law firm.

Jackie fancies herself a children's author, and in one of the most inspired bits, she reads a chapter from her most recent work to a rapt Michael. The book, with the ungainly title What Happened Was..., involves go-go dancers, topless bars, and car crashes. When Michael suggests that some of the material might be geared toward older readers rather than adolescents, Jackie defensively asks, "Have you ever read the Grimm brothers?" She adds, "Worse ... much worse."

As Jackie, Strong is wondrous, radiating hopefulness even as the prospects for romance dim. She craves intimacy, but she is nobody's doormat. Stoll is equally excellent. He appears to be in complete control, and as Michael, he dresses the part of a successful lawyer. As Jackie and the audience get to know him, though, it is clear that he is psychologically broken. Stoll gives a deeply moving performance that elicits complex empathy rather than straightforward sympathy.

Regrettably, playwright Tom Noonan died in February of this year and did not live to see this revival. Audible's production of What Happened Was... is a timely and important reminder of his prodigious talents.