Christopher Walker reviews The Real Thing at The Old Vic

What is love? How can we know it when we see it? And how should we behave.

These are no small questions, and the revival of Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing sets out to answer them.

The Old Vic is no stranger to slick productions of intelligent theatre, and this certainly fits the mould. If your idea of entertainment does not rise above a superheroes movie then this is not for you.

Stoppard is one of the greatest creators of intelligent theatre. The piece is about the lives and loves of theatre folk as seen in a London drawing room, and so is very reminiscent of Noel Coward’s Present Laughter.

It was written in 1982, so is just at that age where Directors fret about whether or not to make a few updates to the text. Particularly in this politically conscious age. This is largely not done here (although the changing face of multicultural Britain is captured in the casting of roles).

This means that we have vinyl records played on a turntable, and references to flip phones which will no doubt be lost on many.

Nevertheless, the central theme of love is timeless, and indeed some of the dialogue such as overcrowding in prisons, seems extraordinarily contemporary.

The highlight of this production is James McArdie’s performance as Henry, a philosophical playwright. He is quite superb at bringing out the comedy and subtlety of the character. Bel Powley as his second wife Annie is wonderfully angular and infuriatingly narcissistic, as so many of our greatest actors are.

Some of the secondary men also give very strong performances including Oliver Johnstone, as Max, Jack Ambrose as Brodie, and Rilwan Abiola Owokoniran as Billy.

They have a lot of dialogue to get through – indeed the most dated aspect of the play is its slightly slow pace. We have all speeded up a lot in the last 40 years.

Overall, though, the play remains fresh and amusing, and the production is wonderfully slick thanks to Peter McKintosh’s set and Richard Howell’s lighting. They do an awful lot with one sofa and some blue lights.

To book tickets – https://www.oldvictheatre.com/calendar/22933/2024/09

Pictured top: Oliver Johnstone (Max) and Company in The Real Thing at The Old Vic (Picture: Manuel Harlan)