Vicki Paris Goodman
Culture Writer
Culture Writer
I have heard it said that love is more a behavior and less a feeling. That if you treat someone lovingly, then the feelings of love will flourish.
Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, currently in production on the Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage, is a play exclusively and undeniably about love, but one that curiously has little to say about behaving lovingly. Still, Stoppard provides more than enough grist for the love exploration mill with a play that studies all sides.
Furthermore, the play’s protagonist Henry (Noah Wagner), a playwright who has trouble adequately writing about love, also finds expressing love within his own relationship wholly problematic. Such is one important lesson of Stoppard’s play, the common-sense notion that Henry’s ability to write about love is the perfect litmus test for his ability to love.
As with all of Stoppard’s work, The Real Thing intellectualizes its subject, endowing its characters with sharp tongues and the gift of gab. But the beauty of The Real Thing is that what begins as a “matter of the head” becomes “the real thing” as characters learn from grave mistakes, prior misconceptions, the pain of betrayal and other manifestations of developing emotional maturity.
To this extent, The Real Thing is an optimistic play, in that its flawed and unhappy characters scratch and claw their way to a better tomorrow.
Sean Gray’s masterful direction of his superb cast renders a production more than worthy of Stoppard’s outstanding play.
Wagner’s performance is sensitive and agonizing. His Henry is brilliant and attractive. We feel what he feels, not at first, but as time goes on. As he gets more in touch with his feelings, so do we.
Loren McJannett-Taylor plays the smart and elusive Annie, an actress whose extra-marital dalliances sow the seeds of emotional growth for several of the play’s other characters, and ultimately herself. McJannett-Taylor is superb in her depiction of a woman for whom commitment stays at arm’s length.
When Henry’s wife Charlotte (Louisa Dienst), another actress, is frustrated within her distant marriage, she finds that Henry and Annie are having an affair. Annie’s husband Max (Sean Hesketh), yet another actor within the play, is devasted when he learns of the affair, and his debilitating pain at the news is palpable. Hesketh nails the scene.
Early on, Max plays an unfaithful Charlotte’s husband in Henry’s play-within-a-play, behaving quite differently over Charlotte’s infidelity than that of a real-life Annie. In the play-within-a-play, Max manages a detached humor over the realization of Charlotte’s affair. Hence, we see first-hand the playwright Henry’s difficulty writing the emotion of love.
Wilhelm Peters plays young Billy, who Annie performs opposite in Glasgow. Much younger than Annie, Billy still becomes enthralled with her. Henry’s resulting struggle with hurt, jealousy and acceptance takes his relationship with Annie to a deeper level after the two hash things out.
Antony Nash portrays Brodie, an “activist” admired by Annie for the passionate cause she attributes to him. His poorly written play becomes her obsession. She finally convinces an unwilling Henry to turn it into a theatrical masterpiece, only to discover upon Brodie’s release from prison that he is nothing more than a common thug.
Max and Charlotte’s teenage daughter Debbie is well played by Amara
Phelps.
The Real Thing alternates between stage-acted love and real relationships, sometimes confusing its audience in the process. But in the end, there is a purpose to every turn the play takes.
The play will make you question your past and present relationships, and even your own ability to love. You will wonder about the true nature of love and commitment and whether you understand them the way you thought you did.
The Real Thing captures feelings we’ve all had— ones we can’t forget even if we wish we could.
The Real Thing continues on the Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage through March 28. Tickets are $24 general admission, $21 for seniors and $14 for students with ID. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with Sunday matinees at 2pm. The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St. Call (562) 494-1014, option 1, for reservations and information. Tickets are also available at lbplayhouse.org .
Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, currently in production on the Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage, is a play exclusively and undeniably about love, but one that curiously has little to say about behaving lovingly. Still, Stoppard provides more than enough grist for the love exploration mill with a play that studies all sides.
Furthermore, the play’s protagonist Henry (Noah Wagner), a playwright who has trouble adequately writing about love, also finds expressing love within his own relationship wholly problematic. Such is one important lesson of Stoppard’s play, the common-sense notion that Henry’s ability to write about love is the perfect litmus test for his ability to love.
As with all of Stoppard’s work, The Real Thing intellectualizes its subject, endowing its characters with sharp tongues and the gift of gab. But the beauty of The Real Thing is that what begins as a “matter of the head” becomes “the real thing” as characters learn from grave mistakes, prior misconceptions, the pain of betrayal and other manifestations of developing emotional maturity.
To this extent, The Real Thing is an optimistic play, in that its flawed and unhappy characters scratch and claw their way to a better tomorrow.
Sean Gray’s masterful direction of his superb cast renders a production more than worthy of Stoppard’s outstanding play.
Wagner’s performance is sensitive and agonizing. His Henry is brilliant and attractive. We feel what he feels, not at first, but as time goes on. As he gets more in touch with his feelings, so do we.
Loren McJannett-Taylor plays the smart and elusive Annie, an actress whose extra-marital dalliances sow the seeds of emotional growth for several of the play’s other characters, and ultimately herself. McJannett-Taylor is superb in her depiction of a woman for whom commitment stays at arm’s length.
When Henry’s wife Charlotte (Louisa Dienst), another actress, is frustrated within her distant marriage, she finds that Henry and Annie are having an affair. Annie’s husband Max (Sean Hesketh), yet another actor within the play, is devasted when he learns of the affair, and his debilitating pain at the news is palpable. Hesketh nails the scene.
Early on, Max plays an unfaithful Charlotte’s husband in Henry’s play-within-a-play, behaving quite differently over Charlotte’s infidelity than that of a real-life Annie. In the play-within-a-play, Max manages a detached humor over the realization of Charlotte’s affair. Hence, we see first-hand the playwright Henry’s difficulty writing the emotion of love.
Wilhelm Peters plays young Billy, who Annie performs opposite in Glasgow. Much younger than Annie, Billy still becomes enthralled with her. Henry’s resulting struggle with hurt, jealousy and acceptance takes his relationship with Annie to a deeper level after the two hash things out.
Antony Nash portrays Brodie, an “activist” admired by Annie for the passionate cause she attributes to him. His poorly written play becomes her obsession. She finally convinces an unwilling Henry to turn it into a theatrical masterpiece, only to discover upon Brodie’s release from prison that he is nothing more than a common thug.
Max and Charlotte’s teenage daughter Debbie is well played by Amara Phelps.
The Real Thing alternates between stage-acted love and real relationships, sometimes confusing its audience in the process. But in the end, there is a purpose to every turn the play takes.
The play will make you question your past and present relationships, and even your own ability to love. You will wonder about the true nature of love and commitment and whether you understand them the way you thought you did.
The Real Thing captures feelings we’ve all had— ones we can’t forget even if we wish we could.
The Real Thing continues on the Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage through March 28. Tickets are $24 general admission, $21 for seniors and $14 for students with ID. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with Sunday matinees at 2pm. The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St. Call (562) 494-1014, option 1, for reservations and information. Tickets are also available at lbplayhouse.org .
