Main content

‘It’s eroded free speech’: Playwright Sir Tom Stoppard on cancel culture and his latest play Leopoldstadt

Sir Tom Stoppard is one of Britain’s greatest living playwrights, whose feats of intellectual brilliance, wit and downright cleverness have kept audiences enthralled for decades, ever since he hit the big time with his absurdist tragicomedy Rosenkrantz and Gildenstern are Dead in 1967.

His latest play Leopoldstadt opened to great acclaim at the start of 2020 and shut just 7 weeks later when the pandemic forced the closure of theatres.

Some feared Leopoldstadt might be Stoppard’s last, but he tells Newsnight he feels he “must” write another play.

Leopoldstadt returns to London’s Wyndhams Theatre on August 7.

Release date:

Duration:

10 minutes