Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play ‘The Real Thing’ tells the story of playwright Henry and his actor partner Annie. Following the tangled story of their love, it is a narrative that plays with both fiction and reality. In the most obvious sense, this comes in the form of a play within a play, but Stoppard also explores the small lies that are spun in the character’s daily lives.
The Old Vic’s revival of one of Stoppard’s most popular comedies, directed by Max Webster, is as clean and witty as the original script. The set was successful in that it was immediately reminiscent of the 80s: from the blue neon lights to the swanky living room designs. In the opening scene, Max (a cuckolded actor played by Oliver Johnstone) goes off on a tangent about the novelty of digital watches, but instead of this coming across as dry or antiquated, it enhances the ridiculousness that is essential to his character’s persona. However, I was glad to find that some of Stoppard’s most dated and unsavoury sexual jokes were removed from this production.
This leads me onto my main qualm with most of Stoppard’s plays – his openly conservative and misogynistic attitude which stands out despite his use of self-irony. It is easy to pick up on a lot of autobiographical parallels between Henry and Stoppard; both being pretentious playwrights who cast their lovers in leading roles. At one point, Henry explains how a good play bounces around ideas smoothly like a cricket bat, which is “cunningly put together in a certain way so that the whole thing is sprung”. According to Henry, this is evidence that not just anyone can write plays, because well-crafted words take as much expertise as a well-crafted cricket bat. On the other hand, a joke about Henry’s previous play about Sartre entitled ‘Jean-Paul is up the wall’ may be a self-mocking nod from Stoppard. Either way, the production does a good job at making Henry look a little bit pathetic, paralleling the cuckold in his own play; he is often found languishing on a sofa with a manuscript in hand waiting for his wife to return home from her affairs. As a result, it is hard to take his character too seriously. Nor is he entirely unlikeable, delivering some very poignant lines: “Loved and being loved is unliterary” and “It’s to do with knowing and being known”.
Henry is played by James McArdle, who delivers a brilliant representation of the emotionally repressed artist. Annie, his partner, is energetically played by Bel Powley, and she becomes more and more likeable as the play continues. My favourite character was however Henry’s ex-wife, Charlotte, played by Susan Wokoma, who adds warmth and charisma into an otherwise two-dimensional role.
Throughout the performance a record player is placed in the corner of the stage playing songs during the transitions between scenes. This means that transitions are always seamless, emphasising the play-within-a-play aspect of the script. The incorporation of stage crew into the drama is one of the smoothest things about this production. They buzz around Henry, dramatising his sense of self-importance. At other times, a member of the stage crew hoovers noisily during Annie and her lover Billie’s (played by Rilwan Abiola Owokoniran) rehearsal of Tis Pity She’s a Whore (a rather telling title), providing comedic relief but also further blurring the line between drama and reality. The stage crew’s best moment, though, is when they break into a coordinated dance routine behind Henry and this is executed brilliantly.
‘The Real Thing’ is running until 26th October at The Old Vic. I would recommend it if you are a Stoppard fan, or want an introduction to one of his more light-hearted works.