Moments before going to watch Bomber’s Moon, I spotted the play’s author, Billy Ivory, in the foyer.

“Nervous?” I enquired, half-jokingly.

“Not at all!” he replied, relaxed as ever. “I’m never nervous.”

He should have been. A quarter of the way into the performance, it teetered on the edge of disaster.

Not that it’s a bad play – it’s an excellent one. The two-hander – about an elderly former Second World War flyer, and his care assistant – is a touching, funny, memorable piece.

However, on press night, Paul Greenwood, who plays Jimmy, the ageing airman, had a minor breakdown on stage.

Midway through the first act he forgot his lines. Which so discombobulated him that he couldn’t recover. After stalling, starting, asking for a prompt, failing to hear the prompt, starting again... the performance was temporarily abandoned. While the concerned audience retreated to the foyer, the director had a calming word with his star.

Fifteen minutes later the play resumed and we were back on course for a classic night of theatre.

I’m glad everything worked out, as Greenwood, minus his moment of wobble, was magnificent.