The Real Thing

By Tom Stoppard

Synopsis:

Can real life be captured in fiction? Can real love ever be played out on stage? And in life, love, work or art, what is “the real thing”?

Henry is an aging playwright with a gift for penning intelligent but rather empty scripts. His latest work is a moderate success and he’s feeling reckless, extravagant, famous and in love - but not with his wife. He’s fallen for Annie, who’s married to the star of the play and suddenly Henry’s preconceived notions of love are turned upside down.

“’I use you because you love me. I love you so use me.’ It’s no trick loving somebody at their best. Love is loving them at their worst. Is that romantic? Well, good. Everything should be romantic. Love, work, music, literature….”

But true romance is not that simple and whilst his characters can manage a “clean exit with suitcase”, Henry soon learns that the baggage you accumulate in real life is far from tidy. As he draws closer to the person he thinks he loves, Henry begins to realise how much he stands to lose.

Considered by many as semi-autobiographical, Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing combines his trademark razor-sharp wit with some of the most touching and beautiful language ever written about the nature of love. Deeply moving, startlingly funny and accompanied by a sing-along ’60s soundtrack, Next Stage’s in-the-round production of this fiendishly literate and impassioned play will reach out to anyone who has realised that the course of true love never did run smooth.

With grateful thanks to this show’s Angels

Enjoy a delicious meal before the show in The Green Room

The Mission Theatre’s vegetarian and vegan Bistro is open from 6pm every night with a full range of mouth-watering soups, salads, hot dishes and desserts - the menu will be available on www.missiontheatre.co.uk in the week of the show.
Please call 01225 428600 in advance to book your table.

This show was performed at The Mission Theatre, Bath in November 2011.

Director/s | Cast:

Yvonne Paulley

Director

Nicky Wilkins

Max

Jane Lawson

Charlotte

Richard Matthews

Henry

Caroline Groom

Annie

Tom Ash-Miles

Billy

Camilla Watson

Debbie

Mike James

Brodie

Review/s of The Real Thing:

Review 1: Both Wit and Wisdom

Bath's Next Stage Theatre Company will be performing Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing at the Mission Theatre next week. First performed in 1982, The Real Thing examines the nature of honesty. 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,…click here to read the whole review.

By Bath Chronicle

Review 2: The Real Thing

The Mission Theatre, Bath Funny, witty, profound and endearing – nearly 20 years on from when it was first performed at the National Theatre in London, Tom Stoppard's play remains as resonant today as it was then. There's even a character jailed for desecrating the Cenotaph War Memorial. The Real Thing examines, love, life and intellectual attitudes through the relationship of playwright Henry and…click here to read the whole review.

By Jackie Chapell, The Bath Chronicle

Show and rehearsal photographs: