The Real Thing (play)
Encyclopedia
The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard
, first performed in 1982. It examines the nature of honesty, and its use of a play within a play is one of many levels on which the author teases the audience with the difference between semblance and reality.
The play focuses on the relationship between Henry and Annie, an actress who is part of a committee to free Brodie, a Scottish soldier imprisoned for burning a memorial wreath during a protest.
The second scene appears to follow directly after the first, but Charlotte's personality has changed completely, and she is now married to a playwright named Henry. Gradually the audience realizes that Charlotte is an actress, and the first scene was her performance in a play that Henry, her husband, wrote. She is unhappy with the play, believing that Henry gives short shrift to the female character in order to show off his own wit through the mouth of Max.
Max and his wife Annie drop by for a visit to Charlotte and Henry. Without the benefit of Henry's dialogue, Max turns out to be a likable but negligible fellow, and Annie is, according to the script, "very much like the woman Charlotte has ceased to be." Annie is a devoted activist on behalf of an imprisoned vandal, Brodie, and Henry mocks her as a sentimental do-gooder, giving offense to Max. But when Annie and Henry are left alone, it's revealed that their fight was also a performance: they are having an affair, and she agrees to meet him later on the pretext of visiting Brodie in prison.
Max discovers the affair, and Annie leaves him to be with Henry. Soon, Henry is reduced to writing television scripts in order to pay alimony to Charlotte. He struggles to write a play about his love for Annie, but finds it difficult to find the right language to express sincere emotion: he is more comfortable with comedy.
(i.e. something that has been carefully designed to hit balls in the best manner possible); bad writing is like hitting it with a plank of wood (i.e., something that has the same composition as a cricket bat, and bears it some resemblance, but is ultimately random and inferior).
When Annie is cast in a production of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
in Glasgow, she must be away from Henry for some time, and Henry visits Charlotte and their daughter Debbie. The teenage Debbie declares that monogamy is a thing of the past, a form of colonization. Henry gently cautions the girl against his own vice of making clever phrases for their own sake, but he is shaken by her cynicism nevertheless. For her part, Charlotte breezily admits to multiple affairs during their marriage, and tells him that his affair with Annie only caused trouble because he treated it romantically instead of as a source of fun.
Henry returns home in a frenzy of jealousy and ransacks his and Annie's apartment searching for evidence of infidelity. His confrontation with Annie echoes the scene from the play he wrote that was performed in the first act of The Real Thing, but Annie has more to say than his imaginary wife did. She admits that she is having an affair with her young co-star Billy, but refuses to either give Billy up or leave Henry: both romances have a moral claim on her, and Henry will just have to accept it. With pain, he does.
As if their relationship were not under enough strain, Brodie is released from prison and stops by for a visit. He turns out to be a prize oaf, with all of Henry's arrogance and elitism, but none of the genuine skill or eloquence to back it up. At last, Annie pushes a bowl of dip in his face and throws him out of the house, and peace between her and Henry is restored. The play ends with a phone call from Max, who tells Henry that he has become engaged.
, the actress who played Annie in the original staging, although, as Stoppard notes, he developed his plot before Kendall took the role.
created the role of Henry. Glenn Close
played Annie and Jeremy Irons
played Henry in the Broadway production. Close and Irons both won Tonys for their roles, as did Christine Baranski
for her featured performance as Charlotte. Supporting players during the play's run on Broadway included Peter Gallagher
, Simon Jones
, D.W. Moffett
, Steven Weber
, Cynthia Nixon
, and Yeardly Smith. In his review for The New York Times
, Frank Rich
wrote that "The Broadway version of The Real Thing - a substantial revision of the original London production - is not only Mr. Stoppard's most moving play, but also the most bracing play that anyone has written about love and marriage in years."
The play was revived in 2000 with Jennifer Ehle
as Annie and Stephen Dillane
as Henry. It played on Broadway
and at the Donmar Warehouse
in London. Ehle and Dillane both won Tony Awards for their roles and the production won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
.
The play was adapted by BBC Radio 4
in 2006 as the first radio play to be directed by Sir Trevor Nunn
.
There was a successful revival of the play at Dublin's Gate Theatre during Spring, 2009.
Anna Mackmin
directed Toby Stephens
as Henry and Hattie Morahan
as Annie at the Old Vic
Theatre in London in a production which opened in April and runs through to June 2010.
In 2010, the play was produced and published in Madrid and Lisbon; the Spanish version is called Realidad (transl. Juan V. Martínez Luciano), the Portuguese version Agora a Sério (transl. Pedro Mexia).
Awards
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
, first performed in 1982. It examines the nature of honesty, and its use of a play within a play is one of many levels on which the author teases the audience with the difference between semblance and reality.
The play focuses on the relationship between Henry and Annie, an actress who is part of a committee to free Brodie, a Scottish soldier imprisoned for burning a memorial wreath during a protest.
Act I
In the first scene the coldly witty Max incorrectly accuses his warmhearted wife Charlotte of infidelity. She leaves with regret.The second scene appears to follow directly after the first, but Charlotte's personality has changed completely, and she is now married to a playwright named Henry. Gradually the audience realizes that Charlotte is an actress, and the first scene was her performance in a play that Henry, her husband, wrote. She is unhappy with the play, believing that Henry gives short shrift to the female character in order to show off his own wit through the mouth of Max.
Max and his wife Annie drop by for a visit to Charlotte and Henry. Without the benefit of Henry's dialogue, Max turns out to be a likable but negligible fellow, and Annie is, according to the script, "very much like the woman Charlotte has ceased to be." Annie is a devoted activist on behalf of an imprisoned vandal, Brodie, and Henry mocks her as a sentimental do-gooder, giving offense to Max. But when Annie and Henry are left alone, it's revealed that their fight was also a performance: they are having an affair, and she agrees to meet him later on the pretext of visiting Brodie in prison.
Max discovers the affair, and Annie leaves him to be with Henry. Soon, Henry is reduced to writing television scripts in order to pay alimony to Charlotte. He struggles to write a play about his love for Annie, but finds it difficult to find the right language to express sincere emotion: he is more comfortable with comedy.
Act II
Two years later, Henry's play about Annie remains unwritten. Annie asks him to ghost-write a play by the prisoner Brodie, whom she continues to visit. Brodie's incoherent anarchist politics, anti-intellectualism, and lack of ability for writing are the antithesis of everything Henry values. Annie discounts this in favour of the intention behind the writing. Henry defends the importance of beauty in language and skill in writing using an analogy with a cricket bat: good writing is like hitting a ball with a cricket batCricket bat
A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batsmen in the sport of cricket to hit the ball. It is usually made of willow wood. Its use is first mentioned in 1624....
(i.e. something that has been carefully designed to hit balls in the best manner possible); bad writing is like hitting it with a plank of wood (i.e., something that has the same composition as a cricket bat, and bears it some resemblance, but is ultimately random and inferior).
When Annie is cast in a production of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
'Tis Pity She's a Whore is a tragedy written by John Ford. It was likely first performed between 1629 and 1633, by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre. The play was first published in 1633, in a quarto printed by Nicholas Okes for the bookseller Richard Collins...
in Glasgow, she must be away from Henry for some time, and Henry visits Charlotte and their daughter Debbie. The teenage Debbie declares that monogamy is a thing of the past, a form of colonization. Henry gently cautions the girl against his own vice of making clever phrases for their own sake, but he is shaken by her cynicism nevertheless. For her part, Charlotte breezily admits to multiple affairs during their marriage, and tells him that his affair with Annie only caused trouble because he treated it romantically instead of as a source of fun.
Henry returns home in a frenzy of jealousy and ransacks his and Annie's apartment searching for evidence of infidelity. His confrontation with Annie echoes the scene from the play he wrote that was performed in the first act of The Real Thing, but Annie has more to say than his imaginary wife did. She admits that she is having an affair with her young co-star Billy, but refuses to either give Billy up or leave Henry: both romances have a moral claim on her, and Henry will just have to accept it. With pain, he does.
As if their relationship were not under enough strain, Brodie is released from prison and stops by for a visit. He turns out to be a prize oaf, with all of Henry's arrogance and elitism, but none of the genuine skill or eloquence to back it up. At last, Annie pushes a bowl of dip in his face and throws him out of the house, and peace between her and Henry is restored. The play ends with a phone call from Max, who tells Henry that he has become engaged.
Autobiographical elements
There are obvious parallels between Stoppard and his main character: both are middle-aged playwrights known for their exact use of language; both express doubts about Marxism and the politics of the left and both undertake work outside the theatre to keep up their comfortable lifestyles and pay alimony to their wives. With these similarities established, it is only a small step to compare Henry's fictional situation with that of his creator: both men take up with another man's wife and find happiness, while retaining a strong relationship with their children. In Stoppard's case this is reinforced by his relationship with Felicity KendalFelicity Kendal
Felicity Ann Kendal, CBE is an English actor known for her television and stage work.Born in 1946, Kendal spent much of her childhood in India, where her father managed a touring repertory company. First appearing on stage at the age of nine months, Kendal appeared in her first film, Shakespeare...
, the actress who played Annie in the original staging, although, as Stoppard notes, he developed his plot before Kendall took the role.
Productions
Felicity Kendal created the role of Annie and Roger ReesRoger Rees
Roger Rees is a Welsh actor. He is best known to American audiences for playing the characters Robin Colcord on the American television sitcom show Cheers and Lord John Marbury on the American television drama The West Wing...
created the role of Henry. Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
played Annie and Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
played Henry in the Broadway production. Close and Irons both won Tonys for their roles, as did Christine Baranski
Christine Baranski
Christine Jane Baranski is an American stage and screen actress, and is perhaps best known for her Emmy Award winning portrayal as "Maryanne Thorpe" in the sitcom Cybill, and her Emmy nominated portrayal of "Diane Lockhart" in The Good Wife...
for her featured performance as Charlotte. Supporting players during the play's run on Broadway included Peter Gallagher
Peter Gallagher
Peter Killian Gallagher is an American actor, musician and writer. Since 1980, Gallagher has played many roles in numerous Hollywood films. He starred as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series The O.C. from 2003 to 2007...
, Simon Jones
Simon Jones (actor)
Simon Jones is an English actor, most famous for his appearances in the television and radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which he played the lead role of Arthur Dent from 1978 to 2005...
, D.W. Moffett
D.W. Moffett
Donald Warren Moffett is an American actor known for the recurring role of Joe McCoy on the NBC series Friday Night Lights since 2008, and as Dean Winston on The WB series, For Your Love.-Early life:...
, Steven Weber
Steven Weber (actor)
Steven Robert Weber is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the television show Wings which aired throughout the 1990s on NBC.-Early life:...
, Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
, and Yeardly Smith. In his review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
wrote that "The Broadway version of The Real Thing - a substantial revision of the original London production - is not only Mr. Stoppard's most moving play, but also the most bracing play that anyone has written about love and marriage in years."
The play was revived in 2000 with Jennifer Ehle
Jennifer Ehle
Jennifer Ehle is an American actress of stage and screen. She is known for her BAFTA winning role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 mini-series Pride and Prejudice.-Early life:...
as Annie and Stephen Dillane
Stephen Dillane
Stephen J. Dillane is an English actor. He won a Tony Award for his lead performance in Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing.-Early life:...
as Henry. It played on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and at the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
in London. Ehle and Dillane both won Tony Awards for their roles and the production won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
The Tony Award for Best Revival has only been awarded since 1994. Prior to that, plays and musicals were considered together for the Tony Award for Best Revival...
.
The play was adapted by BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
in 2006 as the first radio play to be directed by Sir Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
.
There was a successful revival of the play at Dublin's Gate Theatre during Spring, 2009.
Anna Mackmin
Anna Mackmin
Anna Mackmin is an award-winning British theatre director. She has been an associate director at the Sheffield Crucible and at the Gate Theatre in London.-Life and career:...
directed Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...
as Henry and Hattie Morahan
Hattie Morahan
Harriet Jane Morahan is an award-winning English television, film, and stage actress.-Background:Hattie Morahan is the youngest daughter of television and film director Christopher Morahan and actress Anna Carteret...
as Annie at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
Theatre in London in a production which opened in April and runs through to June 2010.
In 2010, the play was produced and published in Madrid and Lisbon; the Spanish version is called Realidad (transl. Juan V. Martínez Luciano), the Portuguese version Agora a Sério (transl. Pedro Mexia).
Awards and nominations
Awards
- 1982 Evening StandardEvening StandardThe Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
Award for Best Play - 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play
- 1984 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play
- 1984 Tony Award for Best PlayTony Award for Best PlayThe Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
- 2000 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a PlayDrama Desk Award for Outstanding RevivalThe Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors. It honors the Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, or legitimate not-for-profit theater revival of a production previously staged in New York City.It...
- 2000 Tony Award for Best Revival of a PlayTony Award for Best Revival of a PlayThe Tony Award for Best Revival has only been awarded since 1994. Prior to that, plays and musicals were considered together for the Tony Award for Best Revival...
External links
- The Real Thing study guide, from Remy Bumppo Theatre CompanyRemy Bumppo Theatre CompanyRemy Bumppo Theatre Company is an award-winning theater in Chicago known for literary-minded productions from playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw and Tom Stoppard...