{"id":11468,"date":"2020-02-27T18:22:52","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T18:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/?p=11468"},"modified":"2020-06-08T22:10:30","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T22:10:30","slug":"tom-stoppards-new-epic-leopoldstadt-is-just-what-this-town-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/2020\/02\/27\/tom-stoppards-new-epic-leopoldstadt-is-just-what-this-town-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Stoppard\u2019s New Epic Leopoldstadt is Just What this Town Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
It\u2019s Theatre Thursday! Today\u2019s show is Leopoldstadt, playing at London\u2019s Wyndham\u2019s Theatre in an open-ended run<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n I mean, man alive. If you want to feel like you\u2019ve been punched in the gut but are really grateful for it, then you are ready for Tom Stoppard\u2019s new, and possibly his last, play Leopoldstadt<\/em>. Following an extended Jewish family from 1899 in Vienna until, well, later, the play is a heavy exploration of how this family\u2019s fortunes changed from one generation to the next and how their country treated them over time. The giant cast and the constantly changing ages of the characters prevent real attachment to any individual \u2013 or real grasping of who\u2019s who \u2013 but the details are less important than the serious emotional pull created in this powerful work.<\/p>\n And that emotional heft is considerable. Despite not fully understanding how each relative was connected (there\u2019s a family tree in the programme, but good luck keeping it all straight (you won\u2019t!)), those particulars weren\u2019t necessary to understand who these people were and to care in general about what was going to happen as we get further into the 20th<\/sup> century. The play achieves an almost immediate sense of intimacy with this family, helped by little glimpses of how all the members interact, throwing us right into their gatherings and conversations without wasting time explaining. The visuals help as well, with the lush Christmas celebration at the start and the same room slowly changing, and dwindling, scene by scene. <\/p>\n The family quickly feels familiar, even though with each scene change and time jump you have new faces to put to somewhat-old names as well as new names and faces to try to connect to those old names you sort of remember. (Don\u2019t think about it too hard, too too hard.) When the names do stick, the payoff is remarkable (especially when you think e.g. \u2018oh that little tot Heini is supes adorbs\u2019 and then at the last part of the show you squeaky cry remembering who he is). We follow the family through a changing Vienna and a changing Leopoldstadt, the Jewish quarter, as they go from well-to-do members of the business community, to people forbidden from working, owning property, being citizens of their own land. You know what’s coming, but it never feels predictable, only powerful. <\/p>\n I\u2019m fascinated by how a master playwright can take aspects of a show that would otherwise be somewhat trying and make it wonderful. The broken cup coming on the night of broken glass felt poetic and not at all transparent. There\u2019s a lot of speechifying in this show, the sort where I\u2019d often be like \u2018ALRIGHT WRAP IT UP CUBA\u2019 and think about how much more effective and efficient it would have been to express those ideas shared through dialogue or action. But the long monologues, especially between the two brothers in the first scene on what it means to be Jewish and never be able to stop being it, I found riveting. Despite several long speeches, breadth of characters instead of depth, and the overall feeling of impending doom, I never felt antsy (nor did I consider how I would fix this show, which as you know is one of my main hobbies<\/span><\/a>).<\/p>\n As usual with plays of this subject matter, the relevance for society today is pretty overwhelming. It\u2019s an important, powerful play that\u2019s aware of its importance without being obvious about it. There\u2019s so much for audiences to learn from it, especially London audiences (including one lesson from Fritz, an asshole for sure, as I wish more anti-Semites would take their lead from him and refuse to fight Jews. I mean that would help a lot of American rallies for one thing.)<\/p>\n