A symbolically nameless couple chart their 50-year relationship by recreating their first encounter on every anniversary. Madame has carefully written the script of their original encounter and they believe they can recreate the intoxicating feeling of falling in love by saying the same lines year after year but always fall short of this goal and are doomed to disappointment. They yearn to be seduced by the exact words of their original encounter but time and circumstance have changed the meaning of these words.

Encore is essentially the same scene replayed six times but paradoxically it is never quite the same—which ironically is the message of the play. The play's title is a metaphor that life is indeed a stage. Encore is sad, funny, hopelessly romantic and lovingly bittersweet. The play was originally written and performed in French, and has been translated by the author.