Passion Powers Stoppard’s ‘Real Thing’

SAN DIEGO — Passion is not usually what one looks for amid the intellectual and verbal gymnastics that make Tom Stoppard’s writing so stimulating. But that’s what drives “The Real Thing” and makes it deeply affecting in a powerful production at the Old Globe Theatre: passion between a man and a woman and passion of that man for language, for finding just the right word to express a meaning.

The man is a married playwright, Henry (John Bolger), and the woman is his actor-friend’s wife, Annie (Christina Haag), also an actress. Since even these interpersonal complications wouldn’t be Stoppardian without a jigsaw-like intricacy to the construction, a scene from the fictional playwright’s play precedes the actual play with life imitating and rejiggering art as often as the other way around.

The only element that dates this 1982 work is the pre-AIDS mentality of the characters. With all the affairs, the principals’ concerns are never about communicable diseases but about who loves whom and how deeply. Still, like a scientist working in a controlled laboratory, that allows Stoppard to put all his attention on emotional rather than on physical risks.

Bolger’s performance electrifies, growing in complexity and intensity and embodying the play’s passion. His delivery crackles with intelligence even as feelings break through the bright badinage, ultimately making Henry’s love and pain heartbreakingly apparent as his defenses slowly break down.

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Under the supple and nuanced direction of Sheldon Epps, who makes the play fly, the rest of the cast provides strong support. Becky London is particularly memorable as Henry’s acid-tongued wife, Charlotte, and Annie Meisels as their spirited daughter, Debbie.

But Haag, while delivering a fine performance, is up against a nearly impossible role. Everyone needs to be in love with Annie in this play: husband, husband-to-be, a fellow actor, a soldier on the train. There has to be a magical quality about her, like that of the irresistible Arletty in “Children of Paradise.” Haag is appealing, but one wonders why all these men remain faithful to her when she is faithful only to her own heart.

James Leonard Joy’s revolving set, nicely lighted by Jeff Davis, smoothly ushers the action from scene to scene. Marianna Elliott’s costumes sport an elegant simplicity, although Annie could have been dressed more distinctively.

Jeff Ladman’s sound, particularly Henry’s pop favorites alternating with Annie’s classical tastes, offers witty subtext on the battle between eternal and day-to-day love. In this as in so many ways, this “Real Thing” keeps all the senses focused on the art of love and the love of art. After 15 years, it’s still an inspiring theatrical mix.

* “The Real Thing,” Old Globe Theatre, Balboa Park, San Diego. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends June 15. $22 to $39. (619) 239-2255. Running time: 2 hours, 42 minutes.