Leopoldstadt Tickets

This show reminds me of the Trilogy he wrote some twenty years ago about an aristocratic Russian family living through and surviving Bolschewism after the Zar was killed. Here it is the historical account of a renowned Jewish family from Vienna and their tragic fate after the Nazis took power. It is beautifully told and the acting is superbe. We loved it.

First class cast. Engaging storyline. Thought provoking themes and dialogue. The separation of scenes in to 4 distinct years works very well.

I went in a group of 8 people and we were all speechless immediately after the play finished. It was extremely moving and the characters finely drawn. It’s a must see.

BE PATIENT AT THE START - TOM STOPPARD CRAMS TOO MUCH IN, WHERE LESS WOULD HAVE MEANT MORE. I APPRECIATE THE LARGE CAST IS NEEDED TO REGISTER THE ENORMITY OF THE MURDERS, BUT A WAY COULD BE FOUND AROUND THAT. ESSENTIAL TO TEACH THE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN WHAT HATRED CAN DO.

very very boring

I am mixed about the play. Much about it - the acting, period feel and staging - is excellent. The subject too could not be more dramatic and important. Nor could it be more personal for the playwright. But purely as a play iI felt that it was something of a curate’s egg. The historical context is presented in a way that is more suited to a documentary than a drama; the sub plot of Hermann, his wife and Fritz, the army officer, is made too melodramatic; and the jokes, eg about circumcision, are vintage Stoppard but do not always harmonise well with the prevailing tone. In short a worthy, well acted and important play, but one that falls a bit short of being the masterpiece I was hoping for.

An eye-opener if you are unaware of what happened to ordinary Austrian Jewish families prior to and during WW2. A large cast, beautifully staged and costumed, acting was outstanding. You do not have to be Jewish to enjoy this play as its content can be applied to all immigrants who constantly feel they live on the fringe of society no matter how long they have lived in their country of choice and no matter what they do to try and make themselves acceptable in that society. a very topical issue.

The show reminded us of the appalling death toll of Jews in the Hitler years. It is essential for us to have these reminders in the face of Holocaust deniers. The telling thing about this production is that the way we are reminded is through an absorbing story, peopled by characters for whom we feel sympathy. We care. The programme notes (some of the best I have seen in any programme over a 40 year theatre going career) help enormously working out who is who. This is probably the main challenge of the show : there are just so many characters and it does span several decades. Yet, I think we should give Stoppard some slack over this. He is telling a very important story rooted in personal experience. The acting was super. The direction was first rate. There were one or two expository passages that could have been pruned, but all in all a wonderful production