Thoughts on LEOPOLDSTADT

There are some more general thoughts in this thread: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1154450#5381667

Though on the whole I agree with you. I haven't seen any other Stoppard plays but it did feel like he threw you into the middle of the action quite a bit, not even an easing in to figure out who the characters are. I feel like I spent a good chunk of the first scene just trying to figure out which person was the Christian one and I was wrong for a while.

chrishuyen said: " I feel like I spent a good chunk of the first scene just trying to figure out which person was the Christian one and I was wrong for a while."



Are you saying that's a criticism? Because one of the major points of that first masterful scene is how assimilated the Jews of Vienna were. Not being able to distinguish who's Jewish and who is not is to the point!

pethian said: "chrishuyen said: " I feel like I spent a good chunk of the first scene just trying to figure out which person was the Christian one and I was wrong for a while."



Are you saying that's a criticism? Because one of the major points of that first masterful scene is how assimilated the Jews of Vienna were. Not being able to distinguish who's Jewish and who is not is to the point!

It's not what's going on in that scene that's the issue for me but, rather, its presentation. Maybe it requires a better grasp of history than I have or the style of writing. I don't know.

I agree with Dollypop that LEOPOLDSTADT kept me at arm's length emotionally for most of the show. But I would say that's been true for nearly all of Stoppard's work. Only 2 of his shows have burst through to something ineffably moving-- THE REAL THING (in its original 1984 mounting), and the magnificent ARCADIA (again, in the first NYC mounting at the Beaumont back in the 90's).

I'll also agree with Dolly's mention of the lighting not helping to distinguish who's who in the cast (or who was actually speaking from moment to moment onstage). We were front mezzanine and even with binoculars we had a hell of a time picking out who was who.

We hope one day a smart director would mount this show with an entr'acte between each Act where each actor passes his or her role on to the next actor to play the part. We'd feel a visceral connection across the decades and the story tracts would stay so much clearer. And leading in to Act V, most of the cast would have no-one to pass the part on to....

Updated On: 3/2/23 at 03:49 PM

I didn't realize it had been filmed.

pethian said: "chrishuyen said: " I feel like I spent a good chunk of the first scene just trying to figure out which person was the Christian one and I was wrong for a while."



Are you saying that's a criticism? Because one of the major points of that first masterful scene is how assimilated the Jews of Vienna were. Not being able to distinguish who's Jewish and who is not is to the point!

"

I think this is the correct take--its meant to be unclear who is of which lineage to start because by the end, nothing else will matter. similarly, its not an accident that you dont know who is who--- its powerful that you get all caught up in this massive multi generational family that you know will for the most part be totally annihilated. its a smart way of conveying the scale of something impossible to measure.

That said I agree with Dollypop's take here almost entirely. Stoppard's writing never blows me away, but its also never been attached to such heavy/personal subject matter, and the disconnect there left me VERY underwhelmed. Yes, its a beautiful well acted production (Uranowitz especially) but what is it really saying? I dont know.

i think it might not be saying a whole lot, other than "this horrible stuff happened and we need to remember it, and these victims' descendants must not run from it." and thats ok! but it didnt really do much for me ultimately. and i say this as someone who isnt just half Jewish, but my Jewish grandparents were born and raised in/around Vienna in the early 1920s. This story, more than any other I can think of, is very much about my family's experience (as largely assimilated Jews who refused to believe their neighbors would have them killed, until they tried to do just that), and it left me cold.

and yes i still recommend it? it didnt bore me. its an important story. i might go back to see josh malina.

i saw it with two nonJews who wept and loved it, certainly more than I did. it was sold out the entirety of its run in London, and came to Bway on the back of its tremendous success there. the idea that it hasnt, or wouldn't, appeal to 99% of the population is somewhat absurd. (but if you dont like stoppard, by all means, skip it- i didnt like it all that much).

Bettyboy72 said: "I’m Catholic and I found the show deeply affecting. I still think about it. A friend who is an actor told me before I saw the show, “Don’t worry about who is who and how they are related. Don’t worry about tracking characters. Listen to the dialogue and tap into the emotion.” I was grateful for that advice.


To me there was a lot of parallel process going on as an audience member. As someone else stated, Stoppard seemed to be doing a type of shell game with the characters. They are all human and therefore none of them deserved the inhumanity they faced. There was no need to even think about what religion someone was. All of the characters were complex, full bodied, loving and flawed. Yes many were painted in broad strokes but they were all shown as interconnected in ways that would create trauma for those that lived to tell the history. We were given vignettes of how things evolved for them and shown their humanity, humor, fear, anger and beauty in each vignette.


Also I was deeply moved by the relevance today. Eerily relevant. As a gay man living in a country going after drag shows, it would be easy for me practice some detachment as both a defense mechanism, a survival technique. That first Christmas with the family there is a sense of waiting for this ugliness to pass. Well it never passed. It tore a tragic and traumatic hole in the fabric of their family. It was chilling and affecting. Watching that holiday with foreboding, wanting a different outcome but knowing the inevitable. Thinking about what I can do to help ensure that an atrocity like this does not occur again. The show felt very immersive to me.


Those lost in death camps and those who survived are at risk of being forgotten if we do not keep their names and their stories alive. I think some of the letting go of following specific characters in this play allows audience members to project onto those characters. Maybe people they remember from their past or present based on the personalities or archetypes of the characters. To see how things evolve for them is truly devastating. It could happen to any of us if we do not remember this history, speak of it, share it. It also reminds us off the importance of speaking out against hatred and bigotry."

Beautifully and eloquently stated! I, too, fear this march towards an ignorant, more hate-based country, and find the resonance of this play quite timely. And for those wondering, you don't have to be Jewish, or gay, or part of any oppressed minority to be moved and affected by this play -- you just have to be human.

PipingHotPiccolo said: "i saw it with two nonJews who wept and loved it, certainly more than I did. it was sold out the entirety of its run in London, and came to Bway on the back of its tremendous success there. the idea that it hasnt, or wouldn't, appeal to 99% of the population is somewhat absurd. (but if you dont like stoppard, by all means, skip it- i didnt like it all that much)."

I don’t think it’s absurd at all given the average theater goer and the average NYC-er. This isn’t playing in Nebraska. But that’s good to know! Not sure it totally appeals to me but maybe I’ll read it down the line.

This thread has been a pleasure to read ---and it remained civil throughout. Thanks to everyone for their input.

This thread has been great! Definitely learning a lot about what other people see the play to be. I'm not Jewish so I felt that I did miss context in some areas and some things seemed like they would've had more weight had I known that context, but I do enjoy the overall sentiment of the play.

I wish that someone had also told me not to worry about the specific characters as much before the show, as I generally like following specific character arcs, so the effort spent tracking the characters through time possibly lessened the emotional impact in some areas, though the last scene was definitely very impactful. I came out of the show wishing that it had focused more on that scene, maybe using that as a starting point rather than an ending point, but I think I understand more now what the show was trying to demonstrate with how assimilated the Jewish families in Vienna were and how much they were still othered. I guess rather than specific character arcs, it's more of multiple slices of multiple lives and how they intersect, so thanks everyone for chiming in on that, as I certainly appreciate what it's doing a lot more now.

PipingHotPiccolo said: "I said this almost verbatim as the lights came up. Why didnt they tell us not to worry about who is who? "

Actually, Jesse Green did in his review and I was grateful for the counsel. He even underlined how there's a character who gives voice to it--her confusion about how she's related to everyone else. I passed this advice on to everyone I knew who was about to see the show.