This production is recommended for ages 14+.
Performance dates
28 August - 26 October 2024
Run time TBC
Includes interval
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‘There are no commitments, only bargains.’
Annie is an actress, Henry is a playwright, and fiction is the backdrop to life. Hardly a recipe for a faithful marriage, especially when it started as an affair.
But does it matter how it began if what they have is the real thing?
Diving through layers of play and performance, reality and deceit, The Real Thing is Tom Stoppard’s kaleidoscopic comedy of love, infidelity and the stories we tell. Starring James McArdle (Mare of Easttown, The Tragedy of Macbeth) and Bel Powley (Masters of the Air, Everything I Know About Love), and directed by Max Webster (Macbeth, Life of Pi).
Recent Reviews
Very good, engaging and entertaining. It was quite long.
The play was a real disappointment, mainly due to actors. The main part ( Henry) lacked the necessary charisma, his wife ( Charlotte) lacked subtlety and depth. In summary, very flat, in spite of the great writing.
Excellent production cleverly set. Excellent acting with a perfect sense of timing. Captivated the audience.
Excellent performance from all the actors - James McArdle in particular!
Very cleverly written
Really enjoyed the play acting excellent and set well done
Wonderfully performed, a must see.
Brilliant play and an excellent cast. Stoppard is easy to get wrong - this production got it right. Great acting, lighting and set design clean, sharp and effecive, timing spot-on and impeccable integration of stagehands.
Taut verbal fireworks, brilliantly acted and imaginatively staged. The production does justice to a modern classic.
I saw the play when it ran originally and had happy memories of it. This time ( 29August) I was disappointed. The Stoppard dialogue was fine but I did not find any of the characters attractive or particularly believable and the theatrical experience was not greatly enjoyable. Not a production I could recommend.
The play was fun. The acting was excellent and the actors were easy to understand, even for an American. I thought the staging was interesting and even the "stagehands" were quite fun to watch, as well as humorous. The direction and timing were superb, as well.
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