The Knack debuted at Adams House last night, its fragile tale of young love and seduction unfolding as gracefully as a walrus with a toothache. This play surely needs strong swift pacing to make it work, and that's not what it had last night.

During the first two acts especially, Ann Jellicoe's daffy lines dogpaddled amid oceans of silence. Many sank without support, for little in this play is funny when taken out of context. Under Phillipa Lord's direction, there was little context.

The third act (following the single intermission) did pick up a bit, and with it the laughs. This may indicate hope for the future (such as Thursday or Friday night); the play has been a proven quantity off-Broadway and on the screen.

Part of the hope lies in the acting, which individually is quite nice. Best of all is Elizabeth Brunton as Nancy, the Midlands girl whose search for a London YWCA brings her into the flat of Colin, Tolen, and Tom. Miss Brunton is charming in her extended bits of nonsense, particularly the first part of the "rape" sequence that dominates the third act.

Bro Uttal is also fine as Tolen, the man who has the knack (with women, for those unfamiliar with the work). Uttal stoutly maintains the rhythm of his characterization while much around him dribbles away to incoherence.

Tim Carden as Colin and Brian McGunigle as Tom have some work to do. Each man flashed brightly from time to time, then lapsed into fitful line-reading. Cardin, who resembles the paint can Dutch Boy, tried hard to be winsome as Tolen's bashful "student", and McGunigle tried hard to be impish. Much of the time they just tried.

The Knack is such an ingenuously nice play, expressing all the right sentiments, that you root hard for it to pull you in. To watch it stumble around is a terrible disappointment; hopefully, some of the stumbling can be corrected before it ends its week-long run.