Olivia Vinall stars in Tom Stoppard’s The Hard Problem at the National Theatre
Since I started writing about theatre in 1996, I’ve had the privilege of attending four world premieres of Tom Stoppard plays – well, actually, six if you break a trilogy into its component parts.
As a very fledging correspondent, I was totally mystified by the Greek and Latin lessons of The Invention of Love, at the National’s Cottesloe in 1997; more seasoned and bum-numbingly impressed by the nine-hour, back-to-back showing of The Coast of Utopia‘s Voyage, Shipwreck and Salvage, at the National’s Olivier in 2002 (and also a little starstuck being sat next to Richard Eyre for the day); and totally rocked by the power of politics and music (and Rufus Sewell) in Rock ‘n’ Roll, at the Royal Court in 2006. And, now in 2015, The Hard Problem…
During the intervening years, I’ve also seen wonderful revivals of Stoppard’s The Real Thing (twice, at the Donmar and Old Vic), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers and The Real Inspector Hound, plus his translations of The Seagull and Henry IV, and of course, his films, including Shakespeare in Love.
So, while I’m still no expert, I’ve done my time. I absolutely understand why Stoppard is dubbed by many as our “greatest living playwright” – even if I think the label does a disservice to David Hare, Caryl Churchill, Howard Brenton, Michael Frayn and others of that generation – and, after nearly two decades in the industry, I still consider it enormous privilege to have been on hand for the latest (last?) Stoppard premiere last night (28 January 2015) at the National Theatre.
It felt more personally momentous being back in the Cottesloe (now the Dorfman), where I saw my first Stoppard 18 years ago, and it being the last production helmed by outgoing artistic director Nicholas Hytner, who steps down in March after an extraordinary 12 years of pioneering successes.
Oh, how I wish I could say I loved The Hard Problem as much as the occasion warranted, I wish I could say that it matched or exceeded my other Stoppard experiences. Unfortunately, like many overnight critics, I was left feeling dramatically disappointed and, a first in my Stoppard-going, intellectually un-stretched. Still, it was an honour being part of the ride.
I’ll leave the more critical analysis to the experts. I’ve included summaries and links to the major overnight reviews below, as well as other recent #goodreads coverage on The Hard Problem, including interviews with Stoppard and the production’s Carey-Mulliganesque young star Olivia Vinall, a brainteaser quiz, a playwriting challenge, and several commentaries on the great man’s extraordinary career.
First night coverage and more…
OVERNIGHT REVIEWS
Michael Billington: Tom Stoppard famously uses drama to explore problems and in his absorbing new play he tackles some pretty momentous ones. How does consciousness come about?
Henry Hitchings: At its heart are nagging questions: What is consciousness? How far is our day-to day behaviour shaped by ugly egotism? A piece that delights in the slippery nature of language…
Quentin Letts: 100 minutes of brilliant brainache. Stoppard tackles the God vs Science question. He comes to no firm conclusion but he and Hytner deliver spectacle, stimulation and preppy wryness…
Dominic Maxwell: Stoppard has often been accused of writing fiendishly intelligent plays that lack heart. Here, the charge sticks. Full of fiendishly intelligent people, dramatically, it’s a dud…
Dominic Cavendish: Watching has left me with a hard problem of my own. I want to salute Stoppard but his first new play in nine years drags and even bores. This is a major disappointment…
Paul Taylor: I wish I could say The Hard Problem rises triumphantly to this hotly anticipated occasion. In truth, though, it’s a disappointment. The emotional life of the play feels under-nourished…
Mark Shenton: The play presents hard dramatic, as well as intellectual, problems that director Nicholas Hytner’s sparse and elegantly inhabited production can’t fully solve. You feel conned…
Andrzej Lukowski: There’s only one playwright on the planet who could change the way you think about human existence in 90 minutes. If this is the last act of his stage career, he goes out undimmed…
Libby Purves: A fine 100 minutes. Near the end, at a revelatory dinner-party scene, the neon tangle overhead becomes a firework display. Not inapt for this last rocket of the Hytner NT Age of Gold…
Matt Wolf: Here’s the genuine hard problem facing commentators: how do you honour the writer’s legacy and Hytner’s NT swansong when, truth be told, the play is a disappointment on multiple fronts…
James Moore: This psychology based gentle comedy feels part A-Level lesson and part social experiment. You’ll be questioning your motives behind any good deeds you do for the next few weeks…
INTERVIEWS & FEATURES
He also has plenty to say about his Czech heritage, how long it takes him to write a play, his lack of influences, fears of losing his talent, Shakespeare in Love and Charlie Hebdo – wide-ranging…
When he finally stops writing, there will be a Stoppard-shaped hole in our theatre culture; but he has already thrown down the gauntlet, and arguably the means, too, for others to fill it…
Benedict Nightingale explains the melancholy beneath the wit of our greatest living dramatist, a one-man adult education centre teaching everything from Latin to algorithms and the Russian revolution
As his long-awaited new play opens at the National, turn Inspector Hound and sniff out the answers to these 10 questions about the great playwright. How well do you know your Stoppard?
Can’t get tickets to the long sold-out run of The Hard Problem? No problem at all, just write your own Stoppard masterpiece – in these six easy steps, explained by Charlotte Runcie. Very funny…
It is nearly 50 years since Tom Stoppard made theatre history at the National Theatre with his breakthrough play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Now he’s back…
Michael Billington: I feel I’ve measured out my working life in Tom Stoppard plays. Starting as a young freelance critic, newly arrived in London, in 1966…
Henry Hitchings identifies the playwright’s magic ingredients, with input from actors Rupert Everett, Joseph Fiennes, Eve Best, Dominic West, Ethan Hawke and former artistic director Richard Eyre…
How excited were you when you first heard the news that Stoppard would be returning to the National for the first time since his epic trilogy, The Coast of Utopia, premiered in 2002?…
The Hard Problem of the title is a scientific reference to the question of consciousness. Stoppard has dramatised an ongoing and heated debate, explored at length here…
The lead in a new Stoppard play – his first in nearly a decade – at the National, in the final, big-finish production by artistic director Nicholas Hytner. This young star takes it in her stride…
ALSO PLAYING…
No chance of disappointment with Stoppard’s Olivier Award winner Arcadia. Hot young director Blanche McIntyre helms English Touring Theatre and Theatre Royal Brighton revival of the 1993 masterpiece
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