''The Invention of Love'' is a 1997 play by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

portraying the life of poet

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...

, focusing specifically on his personal life and love for a college classmate. The play is written from the viewpoint of Housman, dealing with his memories at the end of his life, and contains many classical allusions. ''The Invention of Love'' won both the ''Evening Standard'' Award (U.K.) and the

New York Drama Critics Circle Award The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jone ...

(U.S.) Considered by many to be Stoppard's finest play, it has been called "esoteric". In fact, to demystify the play's many historical and academic references, the New York production team provided the audiences with a 30-page booklet on the political and artistic history of the late-

Victorian period In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

. Harold Bloom, a scholar of Walter Pater, contended that the character of Housman and those in his circle are fabulated for dramatic effect, and the play's difficulties are not historical but its own. This clarified, he cited it in 2003 as Stoppard's "masterpiece to date".

Synopsis

The play begins with A. E. Housman, dead at age 77, standing on the bank of the river Styx. About to board the ferry to the afterlife – captained by a petulant

Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...

– Housman begins to remember moments from his life, starting with his matriculation at Oxford University, where he studied

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. The play unfolds in short scenes that trace, primarily, Housman's relationship with Moses Jackson, for whom he harboured a lifelong unrequited love. The scenes also explore late-Victorian artistic ideals, and Housman's intellectual growth into a preeminent Latin textual scholar. Throughout the play, the older Housman comments on and occasionally talks to the characters, including his younger self.

Production history

The play premièred at the Cottesloe Theatre in the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

, London, on 25 September 1997, moved later into the larger Lyttelton Theatre, and then transferred to the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

in 1998. The old Housman was played by John Wood and the young Housman by Paul Rhys. The director was Richard Eyre. The production won the 1997 Evening Standard Award for Best Play. The play premiered in the U.S. at San Francisco's

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The Ameri ...

in 2000. The play opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on 29 March 2001 and closed on 30 June 2001. Directed by Jack O'Brien, the cast starred Richard Easton as the older Housman and

Robert Sean Leonard Robert Lawrence Leonard (born February 28, 1969), known by his stage name Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He is best known for playing Dr. James Wilson in the television series ''House'' (2004–2012) and Neil Perry in the film ''Dea ...

as the young Housman. Both actors won 2001 Tony Awards for their performances, as Best Actor and Best Featured Actor, respectively."'The Invention of Love' Broadway"
Playbill, accessed 28 February 2016

Awards and nominations

* 1997 ''Evening Standard'' Award for Best Play * 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play (Nominated) * 2001 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play * 2001 Tony Award for Best Play (Nominated)

References

External links

A review archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Invention of Love, The 1997 plays Plays by Tom Stoppard LGBT-related plays Plays based on real people Plays set in the 19th century Plays set in the 20th century