The Real Thing: Stoppard revival is 'witty' and 'wise'
James McArdle is 'sensational' in Max Webster's production at the Old Vic
London's autumn season is bookended by "weighty Stoppards", said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. In December, "The Invention of Love" (1997), Sir Tom's erudite portrait of A.E. Housman, is being revived at the Hampstead Theatre. But first we have this "cleverly engaging" – if "not wholly lovable" – staging of "The Real Thing" (1982), one of his most "accessible and emotionally resonant successes".
This "witty", twisty play has as its central character a distinctly Stoppard-like playwright named Henry, said Will Lloyd in The Sunday Times. Henry's actress wife, Charlotte, is starring in his latest play as a woman who is suspected of cheating on her husband. But Henry has left her for a younger actress, Annie, whose actor husband has been cast in Henry's play as the possible cuckold. Meanwhile Annie, alas, seems to be falling for another actor, named Billy. "Got that? Nobody ever said affairs of the heart were straightforward."
"The Real Thing" is one of Stoppard's most popular plays, said Sarah Crompton on What's on Stage: it has "all the whirling wit of his early work", and its subject is "the most important in the world – what it means to love and be loved". At the heart of Max Webster's sophisticated revival is a "sensational performance" from James McArdle, who beautifully conveys both Henry's "monstrous self-satisfaction and his deep and abiding confusion".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Bel Powley has a "lovely, lithe quality as the impetuous Annie, who gradually carves out her own sense of self", said Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times. And though the "other characters are underwritten – partly a function of the play's interest in Henry's solipsism" – Oliver Johnstone and Susan Wokoma as the other spouses are also superb.
I found this production a little "stodgy", said Alice Saville in The Independent – not aided by some "declamatory" acting. It is a bit effortful at first, said Dominic Maxwell in The Times. But "the longer it goes on", the more it finds a "plangent tone where the witty, the wise and the wounded are forever colliding".
Old Vic, London SE1. Until 26 October
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
FBI: Secret Service stops 2nd Trump assassination try
Speed Read The former president evaded a second assassination attempt at his golf club in Palm Beach, Florida
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why is Labour looking to Italy on migration?
Today's Big Question Keir Starmer wants to learn lessons from Giorgia Meloni, but not everyone is impressed with the Albania agreement
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
A foodie guide to Seattle
The Week Recommends From bustling markets to burger joints, these are the best spots in the city
By Neil Davey Published
-
A foodie guide to Seattle
The Week Recommends From bustling markets to burger joints, these are the best spots in the city
By Neil Davey Published
-
7 cocktails for a comforting autumn
The Week Recommends Vodka, rum, brandy, mezcal: The gang's all here
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Discover Ravenna's glittering treasures
The Week Recommends The 'magical' town is home to magnificent churches and excellent restaurants
By The Week UK Published
-
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: pure 'nostalgia bait'
Talking Point Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder return for sequel to the 1988 cult classic
By The Week UK Published
-
6 unmissable museum exhibitions to see this fall
The Week Recommends Elizabeth Catlett, Tamara de Lempicka and Marina Abramovic are in the spotlight
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Grand Tour: One For The Road – a trip down memory lane
The Week Recommends Our 'gouty trio' bow out after 21 years together with banter, breakdowns, and efforts not to blub
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sam Leith picks his favourite children's books
The Week Recommends The author and journalist chooses works from Nicholas Fisk, Richard Adams and more
By The Week UK Published
-
6 immersive experiences that bend reality
The Week Recommends Take a journey into the fantastic
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published