Play - Hapgood - Hampstead Theatre

Tom Stoppard. Lots of folks' favourite playwright, particularly amongst my very technically-minded friendship group, with his very hard but very human plays. When I was at university, there were about 3 student theatre companies that put on regular shows at the theatre - and Stoppard (along with Arthur Miller) was always a very popular choice - and during my 4 years there I was able to see 'Arcadia', 'The Invention Of Love' and 'The Real Thing'. For a young man from a minor city, these were all pretty mind-blowing in their language, complexity and cleverness - and a far cry from the fare that I had seen back at home, which came from an equally rich but very different tradition, of dark comedy and social commentary (from the likes of John Godber and Richard Bean). Being able to see all these wonderful things was a huge and enjoyable part of my university experience, and Tom was probably the biggest component of that. Now in London I'd frantically grabbed tickets to The Hard Problem when it premiered at the NT (mildly dissapointing), and also scratched the itch with the very Stoppard-y and excellent Nick Payne (and would recommend his Incognito to anyone).

So imagine my excitement when the Hampstead Theatre were reviving Hapgood. I didn't know anything about this except that the '...by Tom Stoppard' bit was an excellent start. A bit of digging began to raise some worries - this seemed to be his 'problem play', it was impenetrable, even by his standards, and had been a flop in the West End. 

On arriving at the (very swish) Hampstead Theatre, my fears were quickly allayed. The play begins with a comically silly series of dead drops, and we are quickly introduced to Lisa Dillon as Hapgood in a bravura performance. Her Hapgood is a cocktail of icy boss, awkward but well meaning mother, playful intellect and trustworthy friend. The men (and this being the secret service in the 80s, they are all men) who rotate around her are by turns awed, intrigued and turned on by her energy and brilliance, and Dillon does a great job of making this heady mix believable. The male leads include the scientist Kerner, who copes manfully as Stoppard's mouth piece, constantly sprouting exposition, seemingly ripped from the New Scientist, in a thick Russian accent, as well as the toffish and unfeeling Blair, Hapgood's boss. The brutish and boorish Ridley, Hapgood's bagman does well, as a man under suspicion for the entire play, blending mystery and menace in good measure.

Unlike some of the Stoppard I enjoyed at university, the science here, whilst prominent, was secondary to the rich comedy; including a clever take on the 'park bench' secret conversations; where the spy (Blair) has to ask the informant (Kerner) to speak more clearly, not because of red squirrels and mother cows, but because his scientific allusions are beyond the arts-educated secret agent; as well as a great segment involving twins (I won't spoil it). The play zips between the main players and scenes, teasing the audience to keep up, but never running out of sight. Far from impenetrable, the key plot twists were always get-able just before the big reveal, allowing one to marvel at the cleverness as well as fully appreciate the dramatic irony.

To be critical for a minute, much of the scientific chatter felt somewhat crowbarred in, and not necessarily illuminating - although part of this may be due to the increasing currency of the key concepts (quantum uncertainty) - which I studied at 6th form, and many of the original audience would clearly have not. Also the play didn't quite succeed in choosing whether to be a mystery or a comedy - and to this end the emotional ending, as Hapgood decides what her career is worth, felt undervalued (and outshone) by the more comedic elements.

All in all though, a delightful evening at the theatre, where I left awestruck (as expected) by Stoppard's wit and plotting, as well as the happy surprise of Lisa Dillon's powerhouse central showing.