my thanks to Val for suggesting we do another Tom Stoppard. I have not had the chance to reread it yet, but from memory this is one of his more accessible and humorous plays. I am certain you will enjoy it.
As always I am stealing some text!
The Real Thing
by Tom Stoppard that was first performed in 1982. The play focuses on the relationship between Henry and Annie, an actress and member of a group fighting to free Brodie, a Scottish soldier imprisoned for burning a memorial wreath during a protest.
The Real Thing examines the nature of honesty and uses various constructs, including a play within a play, to explore the theme of reality versus appearance. It has been described as one of Stoppard's "most popular, enduring and autobiographical plays."[1][2]
Characters
Max: "40-ish" male actor who begins the play married to Annie. Acts in Henry's new play, House of Cards.
Charlotte: "35-ish" actress who begins the play married to Henry. Appears opposite Max in House of Cards.
Henry: "40-ish" playwright who, at the beginning of the play, is married to Charlotte and conducting an affair with Annie. Both believe in love and yet approach it with cynicism.
Annie: "30-ish" actress who begins the play married to Max. She has been conducting an ongoing affair with Henry while also working as an activist for Brodie, a soldier who was arrested and imprisoned for setting fire to a wreath at the Cenotaph.
Billy: "22-ish" young actor who plays Giovanni to Annie's Annabella in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. Openly shows romantic interest in Annie.
Debbie: "17" year old daughter of Charlotte and Henry who nevertheless spends very little time with them.
Brodie: "25" year old soldier imprisoned for setting fire to the wreath at the Cenotaph. Annie takes him up as a cause.
Given the subject matter of the play, I am also going to include Wikipedia's brief summary of Stoppard's own, perhaps complex, love life:
Stoppard has been married three times. His first marriage was to Josie Ingle (1965–1972), a nurse. His second marriage was to Miriam Stern (1972–92); they separated when he began a relationship with actress Felicity Kendal. He also had a relationship with actress Sinéad Cusack, but she made it clear she wished to remain married to Jeremy Irons and stay close to their two sons. Also, after she was reunited with a son she had given up for adoption, she wished to spend time with him in Dublin rather than with Stoppard in the house they shared in France. He has two sons from each of his first two marriages. In 2014 he married Sabrina Guinness.