Tom Stoppard, Leopoldstadt

William Baker (Northern Illinois University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication Jan 2020

Places

United Kingdom (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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Recommended Reading

In Tom Stoppard’s

Leopoldstadt

, the writer attempts to present dramatically a fate he had avoided as a Jewish boy born on the outer fringes of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1937. He discovered in his 60s that most of his family had perished in the Holocaust. Previewing at Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End on January 25, 2020,

Leopoldstadt

planned to run until May 16, 2020, but it closed after eight weeks when the Covid-19 pandemic forced London theatres to shut. Like the characters in his play, and his own family, and generally in life, the play illustrates that the future cannot be predicted or anticipated.

Biographical Origins

Biographical Origins

Leopoldstadt has been widely regarded as Stoppard’s final full-length play, and perhaps the most personal, if not directly

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5290 words

Citation: Baker, William. "Leopoldstadt". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 July 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40470, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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