| The Invention of Love | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the Grove Press edition | |
| Written by | Tom Stoppard |
| Characters | A. E. Housman Alfred W. Pollard Charon Moses Jackson John Ruskin Benjamin Jowett Jerome K. Jerome Henry Labouchere W. T. Stead Frank Harris Robinson Ellis John Postgate Walter Pater Oscar Wilde Bunthorne |
| Date premiered | October 1, 1997 |
| Place premiered |  UK |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | A. E. Housman |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | The riverStyx |
The Invention of Love is a 1997 British play byTom Stoppard portraying the life of poetA. E. Housman, focusing specifically on his personal life and love for a college classmate. The play is written from the viewpoint of Housman, dealing with his memories at the end of his life, and contains manyclassical allusions.The Invention of Love won both theEvening Standard Award (U.K.) and theNew York Drama Critics Circle Award (U.S.)
Considered by many to be Stoppard's finest play, it has been called "esoteric".[1] In fact, to demystify the play's many historical and academic references, the New York production team provided the audiences with a 30-page booklet on the political and artistic history of the late-Victorian period.[2]Harold Bloom, a scholar ofWalter Pater, contended that the character of Housman and those in his circle are fabulated for dramatic effect, and the play's difficulties are not historical but its own. This clarified, he cited it in 2003 as Stoppard's "masterpiece to date".[3]
The play begins with A. E. Housman, dead at age 77, standing on the bank of the river Styx. About to board the ferry to the afterlife – captained by a petulantCharon – Housman begins to remember moments from his life, starting with his matriculation atOxford University, where he studiedClassics. The play unfolds in short scenes that trace, primarily, Housman's relationship with Moses Jackson, for whom he harboured a lifelong unrequited love. The scenes also explore late-Victorian artistic ideals, and Housman's intellectual growth into a preeminent Latin textual scholar. Throughout the play, the older Housman comments on and occasionally talks to the characters, including his younger self.
The play premièred at theCottesloe Theatre in theRoyal National Theatre,London, on 25 September 1997, moved later into the largerLyttelton Theatre, and then transferred to theHaymarket Theatre in 1998. The old Housman was played byJohn Wood and the young Housman byPaul Rhys. The director wasRichard Eyre.[4] The production won the 1997Evening Standard Award for Best Play.[5]
The play premiered in the U.S. atSan Francisco'sAmerican Conservatory Theater in 2000, directed byCarey Perloff.[6] The play opened onBroadway at theLyceum Theatre on 29 March 2001 and closed on 30 June 2001. Directed by Jack O'Brien, the cast starredRichard Easton as the older Housman andRobert Sean Leonard as the young Housman. Both actors won 2001Tony Awards for their performances, as Best Actor and Best Featured Actor, respectively.[7]
A revival at theHampstead Theatre in 2024-25 directed by Blanche McIntyre starredSimon Russell Beale andMatthew Tennyson as the older and younger Housman, withDickie Beau as Wilde,[8] as well asStephen Boxer (Jowett/Labouchere),Ben Lloyd-Hughes (Jackson),Michael Marcus (Chamberlain/Ellis), andDominic Rowan (Ruskin/Stead/Jerome).[9]