The theatre of Tom Stoppard : the spectator as hero
Master Thesis
1979
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
In examining the theatre of Tom Stoppard, I have decided to use only plays that have been written to be performed live before an audience. This excludes the radio and television plays and, of course, his only novel. This decision was me.de because of a desire to concentrate on the theatrical nature of the plays, how they are received by a live theatre audience, as opposed to the impression made on a reader who has only a text before him. The whole emphasis in Stoppard's theatre is on the theme of differing angles of perception, of the different ways a spectator can look at an idea and the varied truths that can result. The spectator is hero both inside and outside Stoppard's created worlds; the stylist, removed from the world of action, fashions life to mirror art, but is caught in a dilemma when faced by the innumerable reflections he sees or thinks he sees Plays need to be studied with the eye of a directors and not simply as literature. As a playwright, Stoppard's conscious aim is to .achieve that volatile quality that binds audience and actors together for a few short hours as a work of art is created. I have tried to keep this in mind while looking, in the mind's eye, at the plays. Because the subject of this study is in his middle years there is the likelihood that, prolific as he is, he will continue to produce plays at his present rate and it is very possible that he will branch out into different areas. This cannot therefore be much more than an interim assessment, not even an interim judgment. Already it seems that the challenge of naturalism is making itself felt and, in Night and Day a strong movement can be perceived in that direction.
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Bibliography: p. 81 -82.
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Hahn, C. 1979. The theatre of Tom Stoppard : the spectator as hero. University of Cape Town.