Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt by Tom Stoppard is a poignant play published by Grove Atlantic in 2020, featuring 101 pages in English. This work explores the complexities of love, family, and endurance against the backdrop of early twentieth-century Vienna, specifically focusing on the Jewish quarter known as Leopoldstadt. The narrative centers on Hermann Merz, a baptized Jew, and his Catholic wife, Gretl, as they host their extended family during a Christmas gathering in 1899. The play unfolds against a historical landscape marked by significant upheaval, including war and the Holocaust.
Readers will find a deeply human and emotionally resonant exploration of memory and identity within the context of a vibrant yet tumultuous era. Stoppard’s drama intricately weaves personal and historical narratives, reflecting on the impact of societal changes on individual lives. The play invites contemplation on the legacies of the past and the enduring nature of familial bonds amidst adversity, making it a significant contribution to contemporary drama.
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**WINNER OF THE TONY AWARD FOR BEST PLAY**
“Breathtaking . . . A play that asks what we owe our own imperfect memories . . . An epic, formatively brilliant work.”–Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
Tom Stoppard’s humane and heartbreaking play of love, family and endurance.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Leopoldstadt was the old, crowded Jewish quarter of Vienna, a city humming with artistic and intellectual excitement. Stoppard’s epic yet intimate drama centers on Hermann Merz, a manufacturer and baptized Jew married to Catholic Gretl, whose extended family convene at their fashionable apartment on Christmas Day in 1899. Yet by the time the play closes, Austria has passed through the convulsions of war, revolution, impoverishment, annexation by Nazi Germany, and the Holocaust, which stole the lives of 65,000 Austrian Jews alone. From one of today’s most acclaimed playwrights, Leopoldstadt is a human and heartbreaking drama of literary brilliance, historical verisimilitude, and powerful emotion.
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