If you love Noel Coward, chances are you’ll like The Real Thing. There’s a similar voice; four people who are supposed to love each other snipe, cheat, and yearn for the better something that’s just around the bend. Whether or not the characters in this play achieve that happiness is open for debate. During the course of the comedy, themes are developed delving into the nature of what reality and truth actually mean, especially as it applies to relationships.
The first scene features a man who confronts his wife with the knowledge that she hasn’t gone abroad, as she professes. He finds her passport and exposes the lie. She leaves in a huff. We quickly learn that this has been part of a play which has been written by Henry (Ewan McGregor), starring his wife, Charlotte (Cynthia Nixon) and their friend, Max (Josh Hamilton). When Max and his wife, Annie (Maggie Gyllenhaal) come for a visit, the plot thickens. Annie explains why she is wrapped up in the cause of a Scottish protestor named Brodie (Alex Breaux), and Henry makes fun of her. This enrages Max, who leaves the room, followed by Charlotte. We then learn that the argument has been a ruse. Henry and Annie are lovers; they’re poised to leave their spouses so they can be together.
Not surprisingly, rather than being inspired by his love for Annie, Henry has trouble writing anything worthwhile. The anguish of the four original principles continues, and even a teenage daughter, Debbie (Madeline Weinstein), is cynical about love and marriage. Brodie turns out to be a jerk, which doesn’t please Annie. Happiness, such as it is, comes at a high price.
The Real Thing has been highly praised in past productions. No less a critic than Frank Rich, in his New York Times review, wrote "The Broadway version of The Real Thing – a substantial revision of the original London production – is not only Mr. Stoppard's most moving play but also the most bracing play that anyone has written about love and marriage in years." Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, and Christine Baranski all won Tonys. In the 2000 incarnation, the production won the Tony Award for Best Revival; Jennifer Ehle and Stephen Dillane both won Tonys. In each case, theater writers have eagerly pointed out elements common to the play and to the life of the playwright.
So what is it about this revival that has so many theatergoers leaving at intermission? The fault is not in the actors. McGregor draws applause and audible sighs when he first appears. Nixon is every bit as attractive as when audiences first fell in love with her years ago. And Gyllenhaal has an appealing wistfulness that transcends even her “Touch me!” demand. Is it the plummy accents that are hard to take? Or have we just experienced so much lying and artifice that we simply don’t find it amusing on stage?
Including the staging of hotshot director Sam Gold, there’s a tremendous amount of talent wrapped up in this production. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t hit the mark as the real thing the theater needs right now.
