STAGE REVIEW: The Real Thing, at the Festival Theatre, Malvern, from Monday, October 16, to Saturday, October 21, 2017.

THIS revival of Tom Stoppard’s 1982 work is not only an examination of honesty in relationships but also an extremely clever and dextrous play within a play.

Often considered as his most autobiographical offering, Stoppard says of its main character - a playwright with a penchant for pop music, and an eclectic mix at that - is pretty close to him in musical opinions and his pedantic nature about language.

It opens with a man’s wife returning from a trip to Basle, or maybe Geneva. But not really. The man has found her passport and accuses his wife of having an affair. 

This, possibly all done by mirrors, then turns out to be part of a play within the play, which has been written by Henry and featuring his wife Charlotte (Rebecca Johnson) and another actor Max (Adam Jackson-Smith).

The following day, joined by Max’s wife Annie (Flora Spencer-Longhurst), all four gather at Henry’s home and it is soon evident there is a web of lies, an undercurrent of deceit, which results in Henry leaving Charlotte and moving in with flighty and free spirit Annie, whom he had been having a relationship with.

Henry, played by Laurence Fox, is - as far as the theatre world is concerned - the playwright at the pinnacle of his generation.

Fox plays the part with his usual understated and enigmatic ease as Henry struggles to come to terms with what is real and what isn’t when it comes to affairs of the human heart. Decisions made all the harder by little white lies, and some bigger ones!

The path to true love, the real thing, is shown to be not an easy one and littered with all manner of traps.

Fox ensures Henry is as vulnerable as he is a ruthless and eloquent egotist.

Elsewhere, in a quality cast, Spencer-Longhurst’s Annie is suitably scheming and a tough little cookie, while Henry’s betrayed wife Charlotte, who had also strayed, is given strength of character by Johnson.

As per usual Stoppard’s way with words commands your respect, and certainly your full attention as the repartee bewitches and dazzles. It captures the pain and pleasure in the pursuit of happiness and provides an absorbingly thoughtful experience.

Also director Stephen Unwin ensures there is the necessary steady pace to the proceedings - all of which is played out to the pop sounds of the 1980s, such as Procol Harum’s hit - which has Henry arguing that Beethoven must have stolen their music to a Whiter Shade of Pale…