Scary thing dramatic perfection: you rarely see it coming. And when it does ambush—a stealth bomb of finesse, emotion and intellect—you’re left intoxicated, craving more and more ephemeral moments... the ones that take shape in your head... in the pit of your stomach... in a darkened theatre.

(Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan, photo by John Haynes)

Such is the fine-tuned impact of the current Broadway revival of playwright David Hare’s Skylight. This is not a new play—it premiered in London in 1995 and made its way to Broadway the following year. But the 20 years in between have not dulled its dramatic sheen, buffed to a searing patina by actors Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan.

Nighy, whose film resume takes him from a has-been pop star in Love Actually to a vampire in the Underworld franchise to Judi Dench’s husband The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, plays Tom, a wealthy restaurateur who visits his much younger former mistress, Kyra, to rekindle their flame now that his wife has passed away. The fact that the two exist on disparate financial and ideological planes is the catalyst for both characters and play:

Tom: The funny thing is...you talk about escaping your father...The chilly, cold childhood you had! But here you are, building exactly the same kind of bunker that he did...Living exactly the same kind of isolated life. You end up here in this room. With ice on the windowpane... And no one allowed to get near...The only time you haven’t been lonely, the only time you actually lived a proper life among friends, was when you lived in our family.

Kyra: I spend my time among...people who often have nothing at all...They don’t sit about whining....No, they’re getting on with the day-to-day struggle of trying to survive on the street....I tell you...if you get out there...if you actually have to learn to survive, well, it’s a thousand times harder than leading an export drive, being in government...it’s even harder than running a bank. And the sad thing, Tom, is that...when I first met you, you knew that full well..That was the charm of you. It made you different...

So we have it—Hare’s fluent dialogue consummated in Nighy and Mulligan’s master class in character: The Physical (incisive shifts of nervous energy); The Verbal (dig-in-your-heels-right-or-wrong tenacity); The Tension (unrequited regret)—all played out in a frigid flat in Northwest London where dinner is prepared, but not served, and lovers reunite in disconnect. Dramatic perfection.

Skylight, costarring Matthew Beard and directed by Stephen Daldry, is playing at Broadway’s Golden Theatre through June 14^t only. For tickets visit skylightbwy.com... and cross your fingers: sell outs are highly likely.