Trilogy of plays
The Coast of Utopia is a 2002 trilogy of plays: Voyage, Shipwreck, and Salvage, written by Tom Stoppard with focus on the philosophical debates in pre-revolution Russia between 1833 and 1866. It was the recipient of the 2007 Tony Award for Best Play. The title comes from a chapter in Avrahm Yarmolinsky's book "" (1959).
The trilogy, nine hours in total, premiered with "Voyage" on 22 June 2002 at the National Theatre's Olivier auditorium in repertory, directed by Trevor Nunn. The openings of "Shipwreck" and "Salvage" followed on 8 July, and 19 July, completing its run on 23 November 2002. In 2006, directed by Jack O'Brien, the plays debuted on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center, New York City, where it closed on 13 May 2007 after a combined total of 124 performances.
The trilogy has also been performed in Russia; it opened at Moscow's Russian Academic Youth Theatre in October 2007, directed by Alexey Borodin.
The trilogy received its Japanese premiere at Theater Cocoon, Bunkamura in Tokyo on 12 September 2009 and completed its run (including 10 one-day marathon performances) on 4 October 2009. The production was directed by Yukio Ninagawa.
Production history.
London premiere.
Directed by Trevor Nunn, the trilogy premiered with "Voyage" at the Olivier Theatre in London on 22 June 2002, followed by "Shipwreck" and "Salvage" with a six-month run ended on 23 November 2002.
Reviewing the play in "The Guardian", drama critic Michael Billington wrote, "Tom Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia" in the Olivier is a bundle of contradictions. Comprising three three-hour plays, it is heroically ambitious and wildly uneven. ... But I wouldn't have missed it for worlds and at its heart it contains a fascinating lesson about the nature of drama." He further commented on Stoppard the dramatist, "I think it is time we began to appreciate Stoppard not for his intellectual legerdemain, but for what he is actually best at: exploring the mystery of existence, the anguish of the human heart and the strange fact that it is our apprehension of death that gives joy and intensity to life."
Broadway debut.
The trilogy's Broadway debut was directed by Jack O'Brien at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York City. The cast included Brían F. O'Byrne, Richard Easton, Jennifer Ehle, Billy Crudup, Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton, Martha Plimpton, David Harbour, Jason Butler Harner and Amy Irving.
Viewed as "the season's ultimate snob ticket", the production ran from November 2006 to May 2007 with a combined total of 124 performances.
In his review for "The New York Times", Ben Brantley called the production "brave and gorgeous", adding that "I wouldn't call it [the play] a major work of art. In literary terms I wouldn't even rank it with Mr. Stoppard's best (in which I include the Broadway-bound "Rock 'n' Roll"). But as directed by Jack O'Brien and acted and designed by a stellar team of artisans, "Utopia" is a major work of theatrical craftsmanship, a luscious advertisement for the singular narrative seductiveness of drama."
The production was nominated for ten Tony Awards and won seven, breaking the Tony record for the most awards given to a play.
Characters and cast.
The following table indicates the roles played by the main cast in London, New York, and Moscow, respectively. Several principal actors played multiple roles in each of the three plays.
Historical figures.
The play is well known for including a cast of more than 70 characters, many based on historical figures of the period.
References.
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