BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BROADWAY REVIEW

Roundabout Theater Company offers a muted Broadway revival of Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing” that is smartly done but too cool in tone to fire up strong feelings for the characters.

One of Stoppard’s most entertaining works, his story concerns Henry (Ewan McGregor), a middle-aged playwright whose romance with Annie (Maggie Gyllenhaal), an actress, ends his marriage to Charlotte (Cynthia Nixon). Two years later, Henry and Annie appear to be a pleasantly-wed couple, but eventually he suspects that she is involved with others.

Scenes from three plays that Stoppard inserts within his 1982 play – two composed by Henry plus John Ford’s “Tis Pity She’s A Whore” – provide other perspectives upon love and infidelity.

Director Sam Gold gives “The Real Thing” a slightly surreal production at the American Airlines Theater.  David Zinn’s setting for a loft-like living room employs a vastly high rear wall that keeps the performers relatively in the forefront of the stage. Between each of the scenes, the cast members can be observed moving their stage props even as they sing pop hits from the 1950s and 1960s that comment upon the action.

Perhaps this concept is meant to focus the audience upon Stoppard’s witty, ruminative dialogue rather than merely involve themselves in the story’s romantic conflicts. But the sense of distance that it creates lends an artificial nature to the proceedings.

Both making their Broadway debuts, McGregor confidently depicts the droll, over-thinking Henry while Gyllenhaal gracefully projects a wonderfully candid quality as Annie. Dressed by Kaye Voyce in some striking clothes, Nixon assuredly portrays the brittle Charlotte. In the role of Max, an actor who initially is married to Annie, Josh Hamilton nicely differentiates between the man’s offstage diffidence and his onstage aplomb. Ronan Raftery is boyishly seductive as a young thespian who harbors a yen for Annie.

Like all of Stoppard’s works, “The Real Thing” is a tricky play and Gold’s tricky staging makes it appear even more so. This rendition is all about what’s in people’s heads and not enough about their hearts. Probably a natural approach to presenting the play would make it satisfy more on an emotional level.

“The Real Thing” continues through Jan. 4 at the American Airlines Theater, 227 W. 42nd St., New York. Call (212) 719-1300 or visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

PHOTO: Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ewan McGregor costar in "The Real Thing." — CREDIT: Joan Marcus