The Real Thing

By (author) Tom Stoppard; By (author) Stoppard Tom
Short description/annotation
The play begins with Max and Charlotte, a couple whose marriage seems about to rupture. But nothing one sees on a stage is the real thing, and some things are less real than others. But is it the real thing? The Real Thing was first performed at the Strand Theatre, London, on 16 November 1982.
Description
The play begins with Max and Charlotte, a couple whose marriage seems about to rupture. But nothing one sees on a stage is the real thing, and some things are less real than others. Charlotte is an actress who has been appearing in a play about marriage written by her husband Henry. Max, her leading man, is also married to an actress, Annie. Both marriages are at the point of rupture because Henry and Annie have fallen in love. But is it the real thing? The Real Thing was first performed at the Strand Theatre, London, on 16 November 1982.
Biographical note
Tom Stoppard''s work includes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Inspector Hound, Jumpers, Travesties, Night and Day, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, After Magritte, Dirty Linen, The Real Thing, Hapgood, Arcadia, Indian Ink, The Invention of Love, the trilogy The Coast of Utopia, Rock ''n'' Roll, The Hard Problem and Leopoldstadt. His radio plays include If You''re Glad I''ll Be Frank, Albert''s Bridge, Where Are They Now?, Artist Descending a Staircase, The Dog It Was That Died, In the Native State and Darkside (incorporating Pink Floyd''s Dark Side of the Moon). Television work includes Professional Foul, Squaring the Circle and Parade''s End. Film credits include Empire of the Sun, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which he also directed, Shakespeare in Love, Enigma and Anna Karenina.
Promotional headline
The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard was described by Frank Rich in The New York Times as ''not only Mr. Stoppard''s most moving play, but also the most bracing play that anyone has written about love and marriage in years.''