“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little,” says Henry in a wonderfully-written monologue.

It’s Brit playwright Henry talking in “The Real Thing” by A - list Brit playwright Tom Stoppard. He is rewriting a clumsy play by Brodie, a political activist his lover Annie is backing.

“Words don’t deserve that kind of malarky. They’re innocent, neutral, standing for them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But if they get their corners knocked off, they’re no good anymore and Brodie knocks their corners off.”

Sometimes one has the pleasure of watching a play with such a delicious flow of words that one would be most happy to hear it all again — right now. Especially when those words are delivered by really accomplished actors. The entire cast, ably directed by Wendy Franz, is polished and engaging. Sam Gregory plays center-front as Henry, an accomplished British playwright who journeys from self-important and unkind to truly being able to love another person (the real thing), as the play proceeds through several years in the characters’ lives.

High-brow Henry is fond of ’80s pop music, rather than the classical fare that one might expect due to his intellect. It’s a topic that keeps coming up as Desert Island Discs Radio, with DJ Jared Holbrook (a company member) plays on a small table: Herman’s Hermits, the Monkees, Procul Harum, etc.

Director Wendy Franz designed the sound and paid careful attention to details throughout this play, which she describes in her director’s notes as “a play about love and its imposters: Lust, infatuation, familiar comfort, need…”

Lights go up on a living room scene where a surly Max (Warren Sherrill) berates Charlotte (Emily Paton Davies), who has just returned from a supposed trip to Switzerland. “You forgot your passport,” he mutters, meaning he has been rummaging through her things… A look at the synopsis of scenes tells us this is a theater in London, play within a play, an age-old technique of playwrights. The following seven scenes switch between theater, rehearsal room and apartments belonging to Henry and Charlotte, Max and Annie (Barbara Andrews) and later Henry and Annie — and Charlotte alone and introducing Henry and Charlotte’s sassy daughter Debbie Chloe Armao.

Actual conversations relate to the opening theater make-believe scene, all couched in Stoppard’s carefully crafted language. It’s a bit of a challenge to keep track of who’s saying what and where — an intentional challenge from Sir Tom Stoppard, one assumes.

At times, it was difficult to hear the actors clearly, which is unfortunate because the audience must really pay attention.

A young actor named Billie (Brandon Kruhm) plays onstage with Annie and takes her fancy for awhile and we eventually meet the loutish young Scotchman, Brodie (Jack Wefso), recently released from prison and not pleased with Henry’s rewrite of his play.

Throughout the production, the pop music Henry loves is woven in to underline how he’s feeling. Stoppard specifies it in his script.

This Tony Award winning play from 1982 is fresh and engaging. Paragon has knocked it out of the park once again.

If you go:

“The Real Thing” by Tom Stoppard, starring Sam Gregory, plays through August 14 at Paragon’s new location, 1387 S. Santa Fe Dr., Denver Performances: 7:30 Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. 303-300-2210, paragontheatre.com.