Director Patrick Marber talks about working with Tom Stoppard on the writer’s new play, Leopoldstadt

“I consider myself a Jewish writer, like all my heroes: Tom Stoppard, David Mamet, Philip Roth, Arthur Miller, Woody Allen,” said director Patrick Marber in an interview in 2015. Now he is directing a play from one of those “heroes”, Tom Stoppard – a play which might be considered the most overtly ‘Jewish’ drama that Stoppard has ever written.

Marber previously collaborated with Stoppard on a 2015 revival of the playwright’s drama Travesties but he says that Leopoldstadt has particular resonance for him. Stoppard’s new play, which opens in January 2020, follows the fortunes of a Jewish family in Vienna from the turn of the 20th century up to the 1950s.

Tell me about the characters in Leopoldstadt.
It’s about a bourgeois family who have done well, but only two generations ago – they are in living memory of the shtetl. They are successful Viennese and some feel secure in their position in society, others less so. The play addresses that unease. The antisemitism is always there, the idea of ‘don’t be so sure of yourselves’ is one of the things going on in the early part of the play. Whether Tom wanted to address present day antisemitism, I don’t know but I suspect he had a mind on it – who wouldn’t?

The play reaches back in time – it references Egypt – there’s always been antisemitism. From the moment there was a Jew there was probably an antisemite! It’s the case with anyone who’s different from the mainstream in any society.

Stoppard has been making me laugh since I watched his plays as a teenager – is there humour in this?
There is humour but it’s not a comedy, its subject matter won’t let it be. But yes, he finds some humour in it and there are some great jokes, as you would expect from Tom. But fundamentally the play’s journey is dramatic and tragic.

Did you make a research trip to ‘Matzo Island’ as Leopoldstadt is dubbed?
I’ve never been to Vienna, though I’ve always wanted to go. I’ve been too busy working on the play to have the pleasure of seeing the locations. But Tom knows Vienna quite well. He didn’t make a special trip.

How is religion portrayed in the play?
There’s a Passover scene with a family who don’t all agree about what Judaism is, or what kind of Jews they are – as with most Jewish families in my experience. There’s some marrying out in the play, all kinds of things going on. They are quite liberal.

Is this Stoppard’s ‘Jewish play’?
Knowing Tom, it touches on things that are true to his own life in certain places, sometimes in disguise. I don’t want to speak for him, but he probably felt: ‘I’ve got to write this play.’ It feels like it’s come straight from the heart and that he is a man – 82 now – looking back at his life. He did that to an extent in Rock ‘n’ Roll (Stoppard’s 2006 play), where he addressed his Czech heritage and this is a part of that.

As a Jewish playwright and director that is something that must chime with you?
Absolutely. I’m very moved by the play and that Tom had the courage to look this in the eye. It’s a brave and powerful work.

By Judi Herman

Leopoldstadt runs Saturday 25 January – Saturday 16 May. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu from 20 Feb & Sat only). Wyndham's Theatre, WC2H 0DA. https://leopoldstadtplay.com

This article also appears in the Oct 2019 issue of JR.