Plays Five:
Arcadia
The Real Thing
Night & Day;
Indian Ink;
Hapgood
This fifth col... read full description
Arcadia
The Real Thing
Night & Day;
Indian Ink;
Hapgood
This fifth col... read full description
reviews
Nov 16, 2010
adam
rated it: 
The Empire is long gone, but its humor remains evidence of Britain's superiority. And Tom Stoppard has to be one of the top practitioners, if one of the more highbrow, of British comedy. I am slowly working my way through the five or six volumes of his collected plays, and it's about the best reading I've had in a long time. I know next to nothing about theater, but you can (and you should!) read these plays like novellas or short stories. They are absolutely entertaining, funny, witty, deep,
More...
Aug 12, 2009
Arcadia cleverly moves back and forth between the early eighteen hundreds and the present, as two historians try to reconstruct the past. Lot's of spicy dialog between the protagonists. The effect is similar to Thornton Wilder's Our Town without the heart-rending sadness that made first-nighters at the Wilder play sob uncontrollably at the graveyard scene in the third act.
The Real Thing, the second play in the Stoppard anthology, is a breezy look at love and faithfulness (or its lac More...
The Real Thing, the second play in the Stoppard anthology, is a breezy look at love and faithfulness (or its lac More...
Oct 26, 2010
James
rated it:
Tom Stoppard's drama is complex and full of witty wordplay. It can be confusing, especially upon first reading or viewing, but all of that is just a part of what makes his work so beautiful and appealing to the reader or playgoer who, caught up in the wordplay and fireworks of the complexity experiences the brilliant result. This collection has two, maybe three, of his best works - or at least my favorites. Like all great works of literature they are worth returning to; the levels of meaning c
More...
Dec 21, 2011
Black Elephants
rated it: 
I've been planning to read Tom Stoppard since... ? The 12th grade. It was during senior year of high school that I was first introduced to him via the film adaptation Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I forgot about him for a few years until a phone conversation with a like-minded literary friend. Said friend called me up just because she was reading Arcadia. There was a particular monologue that had blown her away, and she just had to call me to discuss it. Let a few more years pass, and I
More...
Jan 10, 2008
I have yet to read all 5 in this anthology, but here are reviews of what I have read:
The Real Thing is described by one reviewer as "an intelligent play about love." I totally agree with this. The play asks more questions than it answers, but when it comes to love, there really aren't any logical conclusions. It's also a clever, entertaining read.
Hapgood was confusing. I'm sure it works better on stage because you can really see what is taking place rather t More...
The Real Thing is described by one reviewer as "an intelligent play about love." I totally agree with this. The play asks more questions than it answers, but when it comes to love, there really aren't any logical conclusions. It's also a clever, entertaining read.
Hapgood was confusing. I'm sure it works better on stage because you can really see what is taking place rather t More...
Oct 06, 2010
Kaethe
rated it:
Stoppard is my favorite living playwright and has been for twenty years at least. It was '80, I think, when I discovered Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, put on by another high school. I already loved Hamlet best among the Shakespeare plays. On a trip to NYC in the mid eighties I saw The Real Thing with Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close. So witty and sophisticated, and yet, sincere. All of these plays are equally strong, despite being quite different. Hapgood is a spy puzzle, Arcadia is
More...
Jun 10, 2009
Amy
rated it: 
Hapgood is one of my favorite plays ever. If I were to take up acting again, Hapgood is high up on the list of roles I'd want to play, along with Mme de Tourvel in Dangerous Liaisons. It's a clever treatment of the cold war, and duality in science and people. I want to read it again so I can write a thorough review, but have to get my copy back from a friend who borrowed it 5 years ago!
Feb 09, 2009
Ayne
rated it:
Stoppard's plays are simply brilliant, and this is only a smattering of his outstanding theatrical works (he is also author to some excellent screenplays as well, including "Brazil" and "Shakespeare in Love"). While most are familiar with "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" (which has perhaps the longest "heads" coin toss in history), "Arcadia" is phenomenal and not to be missed. Combining mathematics, thermodynamics, literature, English land
More...
Feb 24, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
I read this after going to see Arcadia in London in 2009. Arcadia is a great play . It haunted me for months after I saw it. Many of the other plays in this collection are great too. The kind of plays you could read over and over again and enjoy them more and more.
Dec 17, 2009
A.
rated it:
This collection was gifted to me by an ex of mine, when we were both living in London (though we were not, at the time, together) -- he wanted me to have a copy of The Real Thing, which remains my all-time favorite Stoppard play. Arcadia is ridiculously gorgeous, of course, and Indian Ink and Hapgood certainly serviceable with some excellent lines, but, oh, The Real Thing. "Exclusive rights isn't love, it's colonization." Heartbreaking and gorgeous play about love, fiction and music
More...
Jan 31, 2008
Maria
rated it:
Arcadia is my favorite in this collection. In fact, that play really skews the rating average, it is a five and the others can hover in the three area. The stage directions are so amusing that I almost think they should be included as close captions to any performance of the play. I love the way that Stoppard integrates mathematics into his work. His stories simultaneously make me feel clever and make me laugh. I productions of some of his other plays but nothing from this book. Can't wait
More...
Oct 08, 2011
John E.
rated it:
What I could say about any play or set of plays that appeal to me: One wishes it were possible, at will, to witness these performed.
Sep 14, 2009
Tom Stoppard: Plays 5 : Arcadia, The Real Thing, Night & Day, Indian Ink, Hapgood by Tom Stoppard (2000)
Mar 26, 2010
Max
rated it:
This anthology has Arcadia, which is probably my favorite play, and it's not for everyone but it's for me;
and The Real Thing, which, if you were wanting instruction as to how to start Act I, Scene i by swinging for the fucking rafters, will enlighten;
and also Indian Ink, Night & Day, and Hapgood, which are interesting plays to read even if I wouldn't want to try and stage them.
and The Real Thing, which, if you were wanting instruction as to how to start Act I, Scene i by swinging for the fucking rafters, will enlighten;
and also Indian Ink, Night & Day, and Hapgood, which are interesting plays to read even if I wouldn't want to try and stage them.
Dec 16, 2009
Olivia
rated it:
An impressive selection of plays from genius Tom Stoppard. Arcadia, in particular, is just one of those "stops your heart it's so good" works. The scene of Thomasina and Septimus dancing feels like an immortal literary event.
Aug 29, 2008
Hannah
rated it:
I especially liked Hapgood and Indian Ink (of course, I always love Arcadia).
Feb 07, 2012
Feb 06, 2012
Feb 01, 2012
Jan 19, 2012
Jan 18, 2012
Jan 18, 2012
Jan 17, 2012
Jan 17, 2012
