Author Rowan Keith
Published 10/06/2024
Ahead of The Real Thing opening in Aug 2024, here are seven things you need to know about one of Tom Stoppard’s best-known plays.
The Real Thing is a kaleidoscopic comedy
about love and infidelity by British playwright Tom Stoppard.
The play tells the story of Henry,
a dramatist, who falls in love with a younger actress named Annie. Featuring a play within a play, The Real Thing encourages the audience to question why we fall in love, what is fact and what fiction, and whether we can ever really know if this is the real thing?
James McArdle plays Henry,
the sardonically clever writer. McArdle has performed in The Tragedy of Macbeth at The Almeida and in Angels in America at the National Theatre, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination. His television appearances include Mare of Easttown, Life After Life and Playing Nice. The Real Thing will be his Old Vic debut.
Bel Powley plays Annie,
an actress come activist who takes up the cause of Brodie, a Scottish soldier. Powley’s television appearances include Everything I Know About Love and The Morning Show and she has previously performed at the Royal Court, West End and Broadway. The Real Thing will be her Old Vic debut.
Max Webster will direct this new production.
The Olivier and Tony Award-winning director of Life of Pi has previously directed three plays at The Old Vic including The Lorax and Fanny and Alexander.
Sir Tom Stoppard is a British playwright
and screenwriter born in Czechia (then Czechoslovakia). He is an Oscar, Olivier and Tony award winner and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of the 20th century. His plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Arcadia and Rock ‘N’ Roll.
The play was first performed in 1982
in the West End, starring Roger Rees and Felicity Kendal. The play was a critical and commercial success, transferring to Broadway in 1984. The Broadway production starred Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons and won several Tony awards.