FREE THE REAL THING: A PLAY PDF Tom Stoppard | 88 pages | 17 Apr 2000 | FABER & FABER | 9780571125296 | English | Boston, MA, United States Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard. The play begins with Max and Charlotte, a couple whose marriage seems about to rupture. But nothing one sees on a stage is the real thing, and some things are less real than others. Charlotte is an actress who has The Real Thing: A Play appearing in a play about marriage by her husband, Henry. Max, her leading man, is also married to an actress, Annie. Both marriages are at the point of rup. Both marriages are at the point of rupture because Henry and Annie have fallen in love. But is it the real thing? In The Real ThingTom Stoppard combines his characteristically brilliant wordplay and wit with flashes of insight that illuminate the nature--and the mystery--of love, creating a multi-toned play that challenges the mind while searching out the innermost secrets of the heart. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published April 17th by Farrar, Straus and Giroux first published More Details Original Title. MaxCharlotteHenryAnnieBilly Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what The Real Thing: A Play friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Real Thingplease sign up. Non-frenchie "degage! See 1 question about The Real Thing…. Lists The Real Thing: A Play This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of The Real Thing. Sep 22, Nat K rated it liked it The Real Thing: A Play booksplays. This is a play-within-a-play and slightly confusing for the reader. I think that seeing it performed on stage will make that clearer. The opening scene shows Max building a house of cards, which promptly crumples to the floor when a door is opened. Quite apt as the play is about relationships. The building and demolition of them. Love, infidelity and all the bits in between are the focus of the interactions between these two couples. Is there are a one-size-fits all definition of it. The dialogue is clever and has some great one liners. The same violation. So reading it was interesting, having seen it many moons ago yes, in the s! To see if it matched up to what I recalled of it. To my mind, actors can only give great performances when they have great words to bring to life. Without the words there is no play, and Tom Stoppard definitely delivers the words. View all 24 comments. Sep 12, David Schaafsma rated it really liked it Shelves: drama. A play I saw in the eighties when I saw a lot of Stoppard plays, one of his most popular ones, about the difference between reality and appearance, about true love and lust, between passionate commitment and affection. The play focuses on the relationship between Henry and Annie, an actress who is trying to free Brodie, an activist Henry, his main character, and Stoppard, were skeptical of Marxism and political theater, which I am not, but I still liked the play. The play uses various strategies to accomplish its exploration, including a play within a play. They all SAY they are in love to each other but seem to be having affairs with other people they say the same things to. Language The Real Thing: A Play writing are key elements of analysis. The play has autobiographical elements, as Stoppard was having an affair with a woman who played one of the characters the main character modeled after himself was having an affair with. It must have been confusing for him. But the play is witty and clever and interesting. I really liked reading it. View 2 comments. Jul 16, Paul E. Morph rated it it was amazing Shelves: books-read-in Don't be fooled by the title; this isn't a play about Coke or Faith No More's best album you watch; I'll get an argument on that last one but rather a searching character piece about LOVE. To be more specific, it explores the nature of love and how it means different things to different people. It includes betrayal, devotion, sex, parental love and that old favourite, unrequited love. It also includes a brief exploration of highbrow and lowbrow art which, I suspect, is meant to draw a parallel w Don't be fooled by the title; this isn't a play about Coke or Faith No More's best album you watch; I'll get an argument on that last one but rather a searching character piece about LOVE. It also includes a brief exploration of highbrow and lowbrow art which, I The Real Thing: A Play, is meant to draw a parallel with the nature of love My English Literature A Level was over twenty years ago now. This is Tom Stoppard so you're guaranteed that it's going to be very clever and very funny. I laughed out loud a few times and listening to this play on my drive home was a great way to wash away the working week. Highly recommended. Jun 11, Trevor rated it it was amazing Shelves: I think this play has one of the best lines about enduring love and enduring through love. Even though the characters and incredibly flawed, I appreciated their vulnerability and desire to stay together despite the fact that their relationship was getting difficult. Stoppard does a great job portraying two characters who don't want to stay together because of a buildup of tension and yet who still feel compelled to remain. It's not a simplistic portrayal either. The two characters are The Real Thing: A Play so dev I think this play has one of the best lines about enduring love and enduring through love. The two characters are not so devoted to love and marriage that they seem naive and idealistic about love and marriage; in fact, if anything they seem jaded about the whole idea--their last marriages ended because of their affair and there The Real Thing: A Play no real indication that they plan on this relationship lasting longer than it takes for the norepinephrine to dry up. But somehow--and they are surprised by this--they want to stay together despite all this. While watching and later reading the play, I kept trying to figure out how Stoppard portrayed the conflicting emotions so seamlessly. Stoppard is a genius, though, so I still don't know how he did it but I'm glad I can appreciate and enjoy his work both on the stage and in print. A word about the understandability of this play: In his work Stoppard is often engaged in metaphysics, chaos theory, erudite history, and The Real Thing: A Play of other obscure and hard to understand devices--that's part of his charm and intrigue. Perhaps this play has such devices too and I missed it, but I found this play to be very accessible without sacrificing depth. Shelves: The Real Thing: A Playborroweddramaromance. December of Dramaday seventeen " If you want a lover, I'll do anything you ask me to. And if you want another kind of love, I'll wear a mask for you. There are others who will call it "a clever play," and it's that, The Real Thing: A Play. But it's not just fine, nor merely clever. In fact The Real Thing: A Play a point where anybody watching or reading it may ask themselves whether what it's doing is anything more than cleverness. In fact there's a point where anybody watching or reading it may ask themselves whether what it's doing is anything more than cleverness The structure may be the most salient aspect each subsequent scene being 'nested' in the previous one, and also seeming like its opposite but the wit and the verbal acrobatics are what impressed me most. Sure it's essentially about love and marriage and relationships, but it's also about truth, and writing about truth, about experience and the depiction of experiences. Here's one memorable little passage: "I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. The Real Thing – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB Simon Phillips returns to direct an irresistible cast in this hugely entertaining and deeply affecting modern classic about the search for real love. Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. The Real Thing is playwright Tom Stoppard at his dazzling best. Henry is married to Charlotte, while Annie is married to Max. Could this, at last, be the real thing? Expertly constructed, erudite and funny, The Real Thing is a modern classic. Subject to change. More info Content warning Strong language, adult themes, sexual The Real Thing: A Play, herbal cigarettes. More info. Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered valid and reliable. Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection. General terms and conditions for tickets and attendance at Sydney Opera House events For further information on general terms and detail on resale restrictions please visit the Sydney Opera House website. Concession, seniors and under 30 tickets Suitable and valid identification must be provided for collection of tickets and at the venue, such as your concession or proof of age card.