David Leveaux's studio production looks a little exposed in the much larger Albery Theatre and musically it feels dated. Nowadays they are a credit to one's record collection. Stephen Dillane's remarkable Henry, for which he won the 1999 Evening Standard Best Actor award, continues to show what emotion an actor can generate while barely raising his voice or hands. Stephen Dillane has already won the Evening Standard's best actor award for his performance as the distinctly Stoppardian playwright, Henry, and both he and his co-star Jennifer Ehle, who plays Henry's mistress, are deservedly up for gongs in the forthcoming Oliviers . As Henry, the engagingly rumpled Dillane gives the kind of performance that lets you forget you are watching an actor at all.
Every line rings true, every shift in mood seems clear and understandable.
And although there is no false emoting, there are sudden shafts of understated grief that cut to the quick. As Anna, Ehle has a luminous beauty and a teasing sensuality that makes this an unforgettably sexy production. My only complaint is that her trick of speaking in a voice that seems simultaneously full of laughter and tears is becoming excessively mannered. Among the support, I particularly admired Sarah Woodward as Henry's gruffly discontented, wryly funny wife, while Nigel Lindsay movingly captures the agony of betrayal as Annie's husband. The Real Thing is indeed the genuine article - a play of strength, grace, melancholy and wit.