# R.I.P. Tom Stoppard **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** theater-stage-dance\ **Created:** [November 30, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244 "2025-11-30T00:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/1 "2025-11-30T00:20:42Z")
> **[Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/nov/29/tom-stoppard-playwright-of-dazzling-wit-and-playful-erudition-dies-aged-88)** > > A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter He will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/2 "2025-11-30T03:15:00Z")
“When people discuss his plays, he says that he feels like he’s standing at customs watching an official ransack his luggage. He cheerfully declares responsibility for a play about two people, and suddenly the officer is finding all manner of exotic contraband like the nature of God and identity, and while he can’t deny that they’re there, he can’t for the life of him remember putting them there. In the end, a play is not the product of an idea; an idea is the product of a play.” ― **Tom Stoppard, [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/73811)** One of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/3 "2025-11-30T04:44:31Z")
While i admire his work, i have to admit i assumed he had already died years ago. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/4 "2025-11-30T13:52:46Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > While i admire his work, i have to admit i assumed he had already died years ago He wrote another Tony-award winning play - _Leopoldstadt_ - just 3 years ago. Still at the top of his game pretty much until the end. His play _Dogg’s Hamlet_ was the first play I ever directed, a long, long, loooong time ago. We shall not see his like again. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/5 "2025-11-30T14:46:01Z")
I read Rosencrantz etc in high school at a time I was fascinated with Hamlet, and have seen the movie, but otherwise just know him from movie adaptations (including Rosenkrantz). But I like R&G a lot. [I also survived the AP English exam because one of the questions was about works that reference other works, and that was the only one that came to mind] ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/6 "2025-12-01T04:51:19Z")
I saw one of his lesser known plays, _Hapgood,_ during its premiere run in London. Starred Nigel Hawthorne, Roger Rees, and Felicity Kendal. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/7 "2025-12-01T20:48:28Z")
I remember seeing _Dirty Linen_ and _New Found Land_ in the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/8 "2025-12-01T23:03:35Z")
Stoppard was responsible for much of the _Brazil_ screenplay (though there are disputes; co-writer Terry Gilliam reportedly tried to deny the contributions of a third writer, Charles Alverson). ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/9 "2025-12-02T00:19:02Z")
I got to see _Arcadia_ in Ashland in 1996 during a high school field trip with the theater club. Such an amazing play. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/10 "2025-12-02T00:32:15Z")
When I was in college I saw a student production of The Real Inspector Hound. This obscure play requires only one set and maybe a half dozen characters so it’s a favorite of colleges. For those who have never seen it I’ll spoiler it. The second act repeats the dialog from the first act word for word. But different characters say the lines and that totally changes their meaning. More than 50 years later I still consider it the most remarkable technical achievement in writing I’ve ever encountered. I’ve tried to catch every play of his I could attend for decades. He may be the greatest playwright of his time. I can boast that I own a biography of him that was autographed by Stoppard. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/11 "2025-12-02T00:32:45Z")
I had no idea who he was, but now I’m seeing he wrote “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead”. Holy crap. RIP, what an amazing writer. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/12 "2025-12-02T00:40:56Z")
It’s said that one of Stoppard’s wrier lines left Gilliam puzzled: > **Sam:** Give my best to Alison and the twins. > > **Jack:** Triplets. > > **Sam:** Triplets? God, how time flies. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/13 "2025-12-02T00:50:57Z")
I’m not very familiar with most of Stoppard’s work, but I LOVE _The Real Inspector Hound_. “It’s for you…” ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/14 "2025-12-02T01:24:18Z")
During our honeymoon in London, we saw a production of _Jumpers_ with Paul Eddington as George and Felicity Kendal as Dorothy. _One_ of my favorite memories from that trip. And _Shakespeare in Love_ is an amazing movie. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/15 "2025-12-02T03:36:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > When I was in college I saw a student production of The Real Inspector Hound. Hey!! I watched this a few years ago on YouTube, an amateur production that wandered into my timeline, and I didn’t even realize it was Stoppard. What a great play, and I’ll bet fun as hell to put on. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/16 "2025-12-02T18:34:57Z")
I took a friend to see “The Real Inspector Hound” He thought it was a real whodunnit, and immediately started looking for clues, something like: the radio announcer said that the escaped killer was an electrical genius, then the maid had trouble getting the vacuum to work, and my friend thought that was a MAJOR clue! I had seen the play before, so I knew the “clues” weren’t going to help, but it was entertaining to ME to watch my friend collecting “clues”. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-tom-stoppard/1025244/17 "2025-12-02T23:07:35Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > It’s said that one of Stoppard’s wrier lines left Gilliam puzzled: Doesn’t speak very well for Gilliam! (I mean, it’s clever in its unexpectedness, but scarcely baffling.)