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Nine essential plays from Stoppard
Los Angeles Times
|November 30, 2025
Tom Stoppard, frequently hailed as the greatest British playwright of this generation, had both a remarkable life and a remarkable career.
A SCENE from "Leopoldstadt," Tom Stoppard's final play, which debuted in 2020.
JOAN MARCUS CNG
Born in Czechoslovakia in 1937, his family fled to Singapore when the Nazis invaded. When Japan threatened their new home, his mother took him and his brother to India. His father stayed behind in Singapore but died when the ship he was aboard was sunk. His mother later married a British officer and the family relocated to England, where young Stoppard took his stepfather’s surname and “put on Englishness like a coat,” he later said.
Stoppard quickly became known for his clever, witty and intellectually curious work, earning three Olivier Awards, five Tony Awards and an Oscar (for “Shakespeare in Love”). He was even knighted in 1997 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to theater.
Starting with “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” in 1966, through his final full-length play “Leopoldstadt” in 2020, Stoppard crafted a body of work that would be the envy of most countries, let alone one writer.
Below are some of Stoppard most important plays, with observations from Times critics:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (4966)
This story is from the November 30, 2025 edition of Los Angeles Times.
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