It would be judgmental to say that Annie is shallow but we can feel the frisson of excitement as the nice middle-class girl gets involved with a man she perceives as a political prisoner.  Bel Powley as Annie is the youngest of the main four and her innocence contrasts with Henry’s cynicism. Later in an acting role, Annie plays Annabella in John Ford’s Jacobean Tragedy Tis Pity She’s A Whore with actor Billy (Rilwan Abiola Owokoniran) playing her brother Giovanni.  How often do we see a play about incest? 

Peter McKintosh’s set is framed by rectangles of light above and below.  As people move in and out, cardboard boxes are left either being packed or unpacked, and the lights converge for scene changes with the use of stage hands openly onstage.  Max Webster’s direction is sound.

I suppose what we are missing in The Real Thing is the glue that holds some marriages together, the impact of children and their future.  Now that is more complex to write about.

You can still enjoy Stoppardian wit and one liners and the audience clapped appreciatively but I felt a certain staleness at references to digital watches and protests at nuclear weapon bases. Henry’s inability to summon up more intellectually acceptable music for his Desert Island Disc’s appearance than Herman and the Hermits and The Righteous Brothers will have the Millennials reaching for their I watches and Google searches.  Infidelity is so much more detectable in the days of mobile phones.  The Real Thing feels dated.