This is Louis Botto opening his trunk again and finding -- nothing? By nothing -- I mean characters who are named in a play's title -- but never appear on stage.

Remember Harvey -- the six-foot rabbit in the play Harvey? He never appears onstage. However -- he takes an invisible curtain call. A door opens and closes on stage left-and a moment later a door opens and closes on stage right. That's his curtain call. What about Rebecca? She never appears in the play of that name -- just as she didn't in the movie version.

Then there was Edward, My Son, Robert Morley's play about a stinker named Edward. The NY Times critic said: "Fortunately, we never see Edward."

Susan and God starred Gertrude Lawrence as a sappy socialite who finds God in London. Susan is on stage for 3 acts, but God never shows.

And how long have you been Waiting for Godot? and Waiting For Lefty? You can wait forever and they'll never show. Oh, I better stop. I'm beginning to fade out. Ta ta for now.-- By Louis Botto