Australian theatre companies and their audiences have long been receptive to the work of British playwright Tom Stoppard.

Sydney Theatre Company has been a consistent champion of his plays, having produced Arcadia in 2016, his early masterpiece Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in 2013 and 2017 and The Real Thing in 2019. Sydneysiders with longer memories will recall its staging of Travesties at the Opera House in 2009. Melbourne Theatre Company produced Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll in 2008 and a stage adaption of his screenplay (co-written with Marc Norman) for Shakespeare in Love in 2019.

The West End cast of Leopoldstadt featured in the NT Live screening. Photo © Marc Brenner

But right now, with theatre companies struggling to balance its books, it’s hard to imagine we’ll ever see Stoppard’s acclaimed late-career epic Leopoldstadt in the flesh. Director Patrick Marber’s 2020 production for the West End employed more than 30 actors – enough to give any state theatre company bean counter the vapours.

So, for now, this excellent NT Live capture of Marber’s production, recorded in front of a full house in late 2021 at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre...