Bernie Halper and Sue, two twenty-somethings, perform together in The Sea Gull in New York not long after the end of World War II. One day, Bernie and Sue walk home together, and Sue asks Bernie if she is talented. He tells her she is and asks her on a date. She says yes, and, only a few months later, Bernie asks Sue to marry him. At the beginning of their marriage, Sue has no idea how much money the couple actually has. Sue is taking acting classes at the Academy and the two have acting jobs coming up, but these jobs will not make them much money. Bernie makes some money working at his friends leather shop, realizing he has a hidden talent for it. He asks his friend if he can continue working with him, and the friend says yes. Bernie and Sue are cast in a production of Synge's The Playboy of the Western World. Bernie hates the show and especially hates the Irish brogues all the characters put on. Not long before the show, which Bernie is sure will be a disaster, he suggests that they perform in their regular American accents. They do so, and while the show is not a huge hit, it gets decent reviews. A well-known reviewer comments on the daringness of Bernie's decisions with the accents. A producer gives Bernie a play to read and offers to let him direct it. It is not a good play in Bernie's eyes, but he thinks under his direction it might not be a bad play. Life begins looking up for Bernie and he becomes excited about his prospects, but it turns out the producer is a flake. He left for California. Sue continues to ask Bernie if she is a good actress. Sue is cast in her first play on Broadway as a background character with a few lines. During rehearsals, Sue finds out she is pregnant. Sue is devastated, and Bernie, without telling Sue, opens his own leather shop across town from his friend's shop with money from a loan from his father. Sue's show closes after one week, and not long after, Sue has a miscarriage. Bernie tells Sue about the new shop, and she does not understand why he did what he did. He does not want the shop to take over his life, so he starts closing it early a couple days a week. In this free time, he and Sue invite over friends for parties. One night, after one such party, he and Sue are laying in bed when she asks him to tell her the truth about her acting skills. He kisses her and prepares his answer, knowing he will continue to answer her for years to come.