Ruth Leon recommends… Leopoldstadt – National Theatre
Ruth Leon recommendsLeopoldstadt – National Theatre
Leopoldstadt opened at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre in January 2020 just before the lockdown and received ecstatic reviews and an Olivier award. When the theatres reopened, the playwright, Tom Stoppard, and director, Patrick Marber, decided to cut it from its original three-plus hours to a more manageable length for various logistical and artistic reasons. It remains one of the most important plays of the decade.
It concerns a prosperous Jewish family in Vienna with both Jewish and Christian members (Leopoldstadt was the traditional Jewish area in Vienna) and tells their story from the beginning of the 20th century until the Second World War and, in a fascinating coda, beyond.
It is full of characters and incident, sometimes funny, always absorbing, eventually tragic, and gives a vivid picture of a certain society at a particular time in history.
It is Tom Stoppard’s most autobiographical play. Both he and Patrick Marber are Jewish, although Stoppard was not aware of his heritage until he was an adult. His confusion over his history is built into the play and gives it additional depth.
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