Tom Stoppard is one of my favorite playwrights.  The intellectual twists and turns come pouring at you as from a fire hose.  His plays are incredibly crafted, carefully assembled tours de force that are a mental workout that I absolutely love.  Travesties was written in the 1970’s and sprang from Mr. Stoppard’s discoveries that an obscure British diplomat, Henry Carr, shared time in Zurich in 1917 with James Joyce as he was writing Ulysses, Lenin as he prepared to return to Russia, and Tristan Tzara during the rise of Dada.  Don’t worry, there is a handy reference guide in the program and on Tuesday nights you can attend a pre-show talk in the upstairs lounge.  It helps to research this play in advance as it covers so much historical ground in a whirl of action.

This production, is a transplant from the Menier Chocolate Factory in London and features an absolutely fantastic performance by Tom Hollander.  This is not a breezy evening of light entertainment, Stoppard never is.  But if you want to wallow in brilliant conversation and fierce juggling of ideas, stop on in before it disappears in mid-June.  This is a great production of a thoughtful play.

As always you can find more at http://www.walterthinnes.com and on Twitter @walterthinnes

TOMORROW: A very special day