The Real Thing
Closing: October 26, 2024The Real Thing - West End History , Info & More
The Old Vic
103 The Cut London
‘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 (A Small Light, The Morning Show), and directed by Max Webster (Macbeth, Life of Pi).
__Assisted Performances:__
Audio Described, 11 Oct, 7.30pm (Touch Tour, 5.30pm)
Relaxed, (audio described, captioned and BSL interpreted) 12 Oct, 2.30pm
Captioned, 14 Oct, 7.30pm
BSL Interpreted, 17 Oct, 7.30pm
The Real Thing - - West End Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR The Real Thing
The Real Thing review — hang in there, Tom Stoppard’s greatest play is worth it
7 / 10
The longer it goes on, the more this production finds a plangent tone where the witty, the wise and the wounded are forever colliding. “No, it was about self-knowledge through pain,” the humbled Henry chides when his equally outspoken daughter accuses him of having written just another story of jiggery-pokery among the architect classes. Here, as elsewhere in this invigorating evening, many a true word is spoken in jest.
The Real Thing review – Tom Stoppard’s gem still shines
8 / 10
Artfully directed by Max Webster, with wonderful long-shadowed lighting by Richard Howell and a poppy soundtrack, the drama’s artifice is playfully exposed, maybe even sent up, with dancing stagehands bringing choreographed comedy and a light meta touch.
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Review Roundup: THE REAL THING at The Old Vic
by Chloe Rabinowitz - September 5, 2024
by Chloe Rabinowitz - September 5, 2024
See what the critics are saying about The Real Thing at The Old Vic! Read the reviews and learn more about the production.
Review: THE REAL THING, The Old Vic
by Gary Naylor - September 4, 2024
by Gary Naylor - September 4, 2024
Hard going with characters largely bereft of sympathetic virtues, delivering dialogue long on ideas, but short on heart
The Real Thing History
Other Productions of The Real Thing
| 1984 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 2000 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
| 2010 | West End |
Old Vic Production West End |
| 2014 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Production Broadway |
| West End |
West End |
Videos