The self-described ‘bounced Czech’ created cerebral works centred by a core of genuine emotion – and always understood the ways of our world
Tom Stoppard: a life in pictures
Where to start with Tom Stoppard: from Brazil to Leopoldstadt
A
ll the best dramatists extend the frontiers of drama. Beckett and Pinter did it in their way. The achievement of Tom Stoppard was to take seemingly esoteric subjects – from chaos theory to moral philosophy and the mystery of consciousness – and turn them into witty, inventive and often moving dramas. Theatre, Laurence Olivier once said, is a great glamoriser of thought. Stoppard confirmed that with his capacity to make ideas dance.
