Tom Stoppard

The Real Thing

First published in 1982 by Faber and Faber Limited: London.

First performed 16 November 1982 at the Strand Theatre, London.

Characters

There are 7 characters represented in this play; Max (40-ish), Charlotte (35-ish), Henry (40-ish), Annie (30-ish), Billy (22-ish), Debby (17) and Brody (25). Henry and Annie are the most important characters, but Charlotte, Max and Billy also play a significant part. Henry is the central character in the play and is described by Tom Stoppard as ‘amiable but can take care of himself’ (p. 15) On the same page Annie is described as ‘very much like the woman whom CHARLOTTE has ceased to be’. Charlotte is described as less amiable as Henry and can take even better care of herself. At the beginning of the play Henry and Charlotte are married. Henry is a play-writer, Charlotte an actress. Max is married to Annie and they are both actors. Henry is very occupied with culture, high culture. He secretly prefers pop songs but for a television programme he chooses classic ones as his favourite. So does he, as a writer, also difficult about using the right language. One reason why he doesn’t feel very sympathetic for Brodie. In opposition to both Annie and especially Charlotte he does feel about marriage as it is a commitment. Charlotte describes it as a ‘bargain’(p.65). In the second scene we find out that Annie and Henry have an affair and in the rest of the play they live together. In that way Henry isn’t really sincere to himself being of opinion that marriage is a commitment. Annie does get an affair with Billy but her heart is with Henry. For Henry it is difficult to understand that she can love two persons. Max marries again and Charlotte tells Henry that during their marriage she had nine affairs.

Résumé
Act one
-Scene one. Max is sitting home when Charlotte comes home. He accuses her of adultery because he found out she forgot her passport while she was flying.
-Scene two. We find out that the first scene was part of a play within a play. Charlotte is the wife of Henry who wrote the play. Henry is busy finding suitably music discs for a television programme in which he is appearing. Max comes in and Charlotte tries to convince him to help her with her argument about the play with Henry. Max chooses side of Henry. Max’s wife Annie drops by on her way to a committee meeting in support of a soldier unjustly jailed for vandalism. It quickly becomes clear that she and Henry are having an affair
-Scene three. Max confronts Annie with Henry’s bloody handkerchief. A handkerchief with his blood on it but which he gave to Henry. He found it in the car. Annie admits that she’s in love with Henry.
-Scene four. We get a look in the lives of Henry and Annie living together. They read a romantic dialogue from August Strindberg’s Miss Julie. Annie is jalous on Henry showing interest in another actress. What really bothers her that Henry doesn’t seem to care enough to be jealous at her.

Act Two
-Scene five. This scene takes place two years later in the house of Henry and Annie. Annie is trying to interest Henry in a play written by Brodie before she goes off to Glasgow. Brodie is the soldier that Annie met on a train and who serves time for vandalism and arson. Henry thinks the play is boring and bad written. Annie thinks that it is important that the world knows what Brody has to say. She declares that she wants to do Brodie’s play. The scene end with Henry making a mistake. He suggests that Annie fancies Brodie.
-Scene six. Annie sits in the train to Glasgow. Billie a young fellow actor is flirting with her. Billie also things Brodie’s play is bad but wants to do it in order to be with Annie.
-Scene seven. Debbie, Charlotte and Henry’s seventeen-year-old daughter, wants to go on the road with her boyfriend. They discuss marriage and love. When Debbie leaves, Charlotte tells that she had nine affairs during their time together. At the end she invites him to stay for a drink. But he stays with his opinion about adultery.
-Scene eight. In an empty space are Billy and Annie seducing and kissing each other. They are rehearsing for their play though at the end Annie start to kiss Billy seriously.
-Scene nine. Henry found out that Annie was involved with another man. According to Annie is all that matters that she loves Henry. She never explicit says the committed adultery. At last Henry seems to have some rest with it.
-Scene ten. We see Annie in the role of Marry and Billy in the role of Bill on a fake train shooting a scene.
-Scene eleven. We learn that Henry has rewritten the play from Brody and that Annie is still having a relationship with Billy. Henry is trying to handle with this.
-Scene twelve. Brodie is out of prison and watches in the Henry’s living-room ‘his’ play. He says to Henry he liked it better before. It’s is too ‘clever’ now. Annie finally tells Henry what really happened when she met Brodie on the train several years ago. It seems that he was just a helpless boy impressed by seeing a actress he knew (Annie) and followed her after they left the train. What he did was really vandalism what had nothing to do war memorial. Finally Annie and Henry throw him out. The Play ends with Henry receiving a call from Max. He is getting re-married. Henry responds to this with ‘I’m delighted, Max. Isn’t love wonderful? (p. 82)

Space and Time

Most of the scenes take place inside in Henry’s house. At the start of the second scene is the living-room (at that time the living-room from Charlotte and Henry) untidy. There are Sunday newspapers and shelves of records. The room has three doors. When the affair between Henry and Annie comes out Charlotte moves out. Therefore in the fourth scene the living-room is even untidier. Then we get a time ellipse. The next scene takes also place in the living-room from Henry but now we are in another house. Stoppard gives suggestions about how the appearances of the characters could be change in order to let it look like it’s two years later. Beside this there is instead of only a record-player also a television, typewriter and video. In other occasions there is not a direct reference to the date or time passed between the scenes but can we make that up ourselves out of the plot. In the seventh scene we return to the living-room from Henry in scene two only now it belongs to Charlotte. The difference is the lack of records. The music we hear is most of the time classic though Henry doesn’t like the music. Annie tries during the play to teach him about the music, learn him how to love it. this doesn’t seem to work, he keeps preferring pop-songs.