The Real Thing: A Play [Paperback]

Tom Stoppard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1984

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 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?

In The Real Thing, Tom Stoppard combines his characteristically brilliant wordplay and wit with flashes of insight that illuminate the nature--and the mystery--of love, creating a multi-toned play that challenges the mind while searching out the innermost secrets of the heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A talented ensemble cast brings to life Stoppard's classic play featuring the loves and loves lost of playwright Henry; his wife, Charlotte; an actor named Max; and his activist wife, Annie. Featuring a play within a play, this production is superbly performed if slightly confusing in audiobook format—it's often difficult to keep track of who is speaking and to keep track of the endlessly reconfiguring relationships. Henry searches for meaning both in art and romantic relationships as he attempts to write a play about his love for Annie and begrudgingly ghostwrites a play for Brodie, an incarcerated soldier and talentless, aspiring playwright. Templeman shines as Henry, perfectly capturing his wit, bravado and pathos. With terrific performances from the supporting cast, this audiobook will delight Stoppard fans and theater lovers. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Review

Of the London production...
"[The Real Thing] is about both love and art, and it is wise, witty, and astonishing through and through...Enthralling."--Alastair Macaulay, Financial Times

"You couldn't ask for a more deeply felt, or more deeply affecting, drama about love than this...The Real Thing is indeed the genuine article--a play of strength, grace, melancholy and wit."--Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph

"When it comes to putting erotic love in its place, no contemporary English playwright has done so with such illuminating rigour or eloquence as Tom Stoppard."--Nicholas De Jongh, Evening Standard

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 81 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber; 1st edition (1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571125298
• ISBN-13: 978-0571125296
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tom Stoppard is the author of such seminal works as Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Travesties, Every Good Boy Deserves a Favor, Arcadia, Jumpers, The Real Thing, and The Invention of Love.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The usual Stoppard brilliance., August 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Real Thing: A Play (Paperback)

As what is considered a turning point in Stoppard's ability to write romance, The Real Thing includes the usual ingenius commentary on life and art this time woven through a love story. Thus, the play can be enjoyed for the usual Stoppardian elevated language and fascinating explanations of quality art as well as its touching yet clever romantic plot. Moreover, it is this plot that sets it apart from Stoppard's earlier work. The characters in The Real Thing make up complex relationships and display emotions that add another facet to Stoppard's masterful control of the language. Dialogue seemlessly drifts between discussions of language to discussions of life, all the while maintaining the level of quality for which Stoppard is famous. It is a wonderful play demonstrating wit, intelligence, cleverness, and overall entertainment in a variety of ways.

As Ros. and Guil. used Hamlet and Travesties used the Importance of Being Ernest, The Real Thing contains certain references to 'Tis Pity She's a Whore that make that Jacobean tragedy a helpful piece of background reading.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply superb, May 24, 2000

By 

M. L. Arnautov "Mike Arnautov" (Bucks., UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real Thing: A Play (Paperback)

This play is very funny in places, very moving in places, very absorbing in places -- all of it in an apparently seamless whole of the high Stoppardian quality. How does the man do it? How does one write a dissertation on the art of writing using a cricket bat as a teaching aid? To quote another recent Stoppard's work: "It's a mystery!..."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I Enjoyed this Production BUT..., September 14, 2010

By 

My Two Cents,and some change... "My Two Cents" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real Thing (Dramatized) (Audible Audio Edition)

I truely enjoyed this revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing. It has been one of my favorite plays since the original Broadway production with Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close. At one time, there was an audio version of that cast (I had it on cassette tape,) which is now out of print. I have looked everywhere! Nobody has it available.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!! ---re-release THAT version of the play on CD. It would make a fantastic addition to anyone's collection of spoken word recordings.