Stoppard: A Chronology

| 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s |

1937Tomas Straussler is born in Zlin, Czechoslovakia on July 3.
1939When Nazis invade Czechoslovakia on March 14, the Straussler family escape to Singapore.
1942Before the Japanese invasion of Singapore, Tomas, his mother, and brother are evacuated to India.  His father is killed in the invasion.
1943Tomas starts classes at an English-speaking school in Darjeeling, India.
1945His mother marries Kenneth Stoppard, a British Army officer, in November.
1946In February, the family moves to England, settling in Bristol, where Kenneth Stoppard adopts his two stepsons.
1946-1954Tom Stoppard [TS] attends the Dolphin School, Nottinghamshire, and later, the Pocklington School, Yorkshire.
1954TS chooses to skip university and becomes a cub reporter for the Western Daily Press, Bristol.  He remains there for the next four years, writing theater and film criticism among other assignments.
1958TS joins the Bristol Evening World as news reporter, feature writer, and theater and film critic.
1960-1961TS quits the newspaper to write his first play, Walk on the Water, followed by The Gamblers and The Stand-Ins.  He remains a freelance journalist for the next three years.
1962-1963In September, TS becomes the theater critic for the Scene, London, using the pseudonym, William Boot.
1963TS writes the unproduced television plays, I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby and Funny Man.  A television adaptation of Walk on the Water is broadcast on British ITV in November.
1964TS writes five episodes for the radio serial, The Dales, airing in January.  The radio plays The Dissolution of Dominic and "M" is for Moon Among Other Things are broadcast in February and April, respectively.  This Way Out With Samuel Boot, a ninety-minute play for television, is unproduced.  Three short stories appear in the anthology, Introduction 2: Stories by New Writers.  From March through October, TS participates in a Ford Foundation colloquium in Berlin.  A revised version of Walk on the Water is performed (in German) at the Thalia Theatre, Hamburg, in August.  While in Germany, TS writes a one-act play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet King Lear.
1965TS marries Jose Ingle, a nurse, in March.  A Paragraph for Mr. Blake, a television adaptation of his short story "The Story," is broadcast in October.  Another television play, How Sir Dudley Lost the Empire, is unproduced.  In June, a two-act version of The Gamblers is staged at the University of Bristol. 
1966If You're Glad, I'll Be Frank, a radio play, is broadcast in February.  The first of the seventy episodes written by TS for the radio serial A Student's Diary is broadcast in April.  His first son, Oliver, is born on May 4.  TS adaptation of Nicholas Bethell's translation of Tango, a play by Slawomir Mrozek, is produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre on May 25.  The television play A Separate Peace is televised on August 22.  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, revision of the earlier one-act play, is performed on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on August 26.  His first (and, so far, only) novel Lord Malquist and Mr Moon is published the same month. 
1967Teeth, a play for television, is televised in February.  The National Theatre production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead opens at the Old Vic on April 11.  Another play for television, Another Moon Called Earth, is televised in June.  The radio play Albert's Bridge is broadcast on BBC Radio, winning the Prix Italia.  The US premiere of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead opens on October 16 at the Alvin Theatre, transferring to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on January 8, 1968.  It wins the Tony Award for Best Play of the Year. 
1968Enter a Free Man, another revision of Walk on the Water, is produced at the St. Martin's Theatre, London, on March 28.  The Real Inspector Hound, revision of his earlier one-act play The Stand-Ins, premieres at the Criterion Theatre, London on June 17.  Neutral Ground, a play for television, is televised by Granada on December 11. 
1969Stage adaptations of his radio plays Albert's Bridge and If You're Glad I'll Be Frank are performed as a double-bill on the Fringe of the Edinburgh Festival on August 29.  TS's second son, Barnaby is born on September 20.
1970Where Are They Now?, a radio play, is broadcast on January 28.  The Engagement, an adaptation and expansion of The Dissolution of Dominic Boot, is televised by NBC in the US on March 8.  It plays in cinemas in the UK later that year.  After Magritte is first performed at the Green Banana Restaurant by the Ambiance Lunch-Hour Theatre Club on April 9.  The first US production of The Real Inspector Hound opens at Brown University, Providence RI, on August 2.  First US production of Enter a Free Man opens at the Olney Theatre, Olney MD, on August 4.  TS writes a screenplay loosely based on Brecht's The Life of Galileo.  It remains unproduced. 
1971The one-act play, Dogg's Our Pet, opens at the Almost Free Theatre, London, in December.
1972The National Theatre production of Jumpers opens on February 2 at the Old Vic.  TS divorces Jose Ingle (separated since 1970), retains custody of their two sons, and marries Miriam Moore-Robinson on February 11.  Their first son (Stoppard's third), William, is born on March 7.  A double-bill of The Real Inspector Hound (NYC premiere) and After Magritte (US premiere) opens at Theatre Four on April 23.  The same double-bill opens at the Shaw Theatre, London, on November 6.  Tom Stoppard Doesn't Know, a self-interview, was broadcast on the BBC program "One Pair of Eyes" in July.  Artist Descending a Staircase, a radio play, is broadcast on November 13.  TS adapts Galileo, his unproduced screenplay, for the stage.  It remains unproduced until 2004.
1973TS's adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba opens at the Greenwich Theatre, London, on March 22.  TS directs a production of Garson Kanin's Born Yesterday, opening on April 18 at the Greenwich Theatre starring Lynn Redgrave. 
1974US premiere of Jumpers opens at the Kennedy Center, Washington, on February 18.  Broadway production of Jumpers opens at the Billy Rose Theatre on April 22.  The Royal Shakespeare Company production of Travesties opens at the Aldwych Theatre on June 10.  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is revived at the Old Vic, London, on July 8.  A fourth son, Edmund, is born on September 16.  NYC premiere of Enter a Free Man opens at St. Clement's Church on December 14. 
1975The Boundary, a play for television written with Clive Exton, is televised live by the BBC on July 19.  Broadway production of Travesties opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on October 30, winning the Tony Award for Best Play.  The film of TS's screenplay of The Romantic Englishwoman is released.  TS's television adaptation of Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat is televised by BBC-2 on December 31. 
1976The interrelated plays Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land are first performed at the Almost Free Theatre on April 6, transferring to the Arts Theatre, London, on June 16.  This production plays the Kennedy Center in Washington later in the fall.  In August, TS addresses a rally in Trafalgar Square, protesting the treatment of Soviet dissidents.  The (15 Minute) Dogg's Troup Hamlet is first performed on the terrraces of the National Theatre on August 24.  The National Theatre revival of Jumpers opens at the Lyttelton Theatre on September 21. 
1977The Broadway premiere of Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land, opens at the John Golden Theatre, NYC, on January 11.  The New York Times publishes "Dirty Linen in Prague" on February 11 concerning repression in Czechoslovakia.  TS travels to Moscow and Leningrad with a group from Amnesty International.  He later visits Prague and meets with dissident playwright Vaclav Havel.  The Royal Shakespeare Company production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, a stage play with music by Andre Previn, is premiered at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on July 1.  A play for television, Professional Foul, is televised by the BBC on September 24, winning the British Television Critics' Award for best play of 1977.
1978TS is honored as a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire).  The US television premiere of Professional Foul is presented by PBS on April 26.  Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film of TS's screenplay Despair premieres at the Cannes Film Festival in May.  A West End production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (with chamber orchestra) opens at the Mermaid Theatre on June 14.  The US premiere of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is performed at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC in July.  Night and Day premieres at the Phoenix Theatre, London on November 8. 
1979Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth is first performed at the University of Warwick, Coventry UK, on May 21, 1979; a London production opens in July.  The National Theatre's production of Undiscovered Country, TS's adaptation of a play by Arthur Schnitzler, opens in June.  In July, TS has four plays running simultaneously in London's West End.  The first NYC performance of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour opens at the Metropolitan Opera House, NYC, on July 30.  The US premiere of Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth opens in Washington DC, in September and then opens at the 22 Steps Theatre, NYC, on October 3.  The US premiere of Night and Day opens at the ANTA Theatre, NYC, on November 27, after tryouts at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC in October.
1980The film of TS's screenplay of The Human Factor is released. 
1981The US premiere of Undiscovered Country is performed by the Hartford Stage Company in Hartford CT in February, transferring to the Arena Stage, Washington DC in April.  On the Razzle, TS's adaptation of a play by Johann Nestroy, is first performed at the Edinburgh Festival on September 1.  The National Theatre's production opens at the Lyttelton Theatre on September 18.  TS begins an original screenplay entitled A O P, and works on it for the next several years.  It remains unproduced.
1982Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is revived with the London Symphony Orchestra.  The US premiere of On the Razzle is performed at the Arena Stage, Washington DC in November.  The Real Thing premieres at the Strand Theatre, London, on November 16.  The Dog It Was That Died, a radio play, is broadcast in December. 
1983TS's English libretto of Prokofiev's opera, The Love of Three Oranges, is first performed at the Glyndebourne Festival, UK, on October 6.
1984The US premiere of The Real Thing, with revisions, opens at the Plymouth Theatre, NYC, on January 5 (after tryouts in Boston), winning the Tony Award for Best Play.  The television play Squaring the Circle: Poland 1980-81 is televised by Channel 4 on May 31.  The National Theatre production of Rough Crossing, TS's adaptation of Ferenc Molnar's Play at the Castle, opens at the Lyttelton Theatre on October 30. 
1985Revival of Jumpers (with revisions) opens at the Aldwych Theatre, London, on April 1.  TS directs a revival of The Real Inspector Hound at the National Theatre.  The film of TS's screenplay (with Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeon) of Brazil is released. 
1986The National Theatre production of Dalliance, TS's adaptation of Arnold Schnitzler's Liebelei, opens at the Lyttelton Theatre on May 27.  TS's translation of Vaclav Havel's Largo Desolato premieres at the Theatre Royal, Bristol UK in October.
1987The US premiere of Dalliance opens at the Long Wharf Theater, New Haven CT, on March 13.  The Roundabout Theatre production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead opens at the Union Square Theatre, NYC, on April 29.  The US premiere of Largo Desolato opens at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles.  The film of TS's screenplay of Empire of the Sun is released. 
1988Hapgood premieres at the Aldwych Theatre on March 8.  TS writes a screen adaptation (unproduced) of A Far Off Place, from the novel by Laurens van der Post.  Stage adaptation of the 1972 radio play Artist Descending a Staircase opens at the King's Head Theatre on August 2; transfers to the Duke of York's Theatre in December. 
1989Television adaptation of his 1982 radio play The Dog It Was That Died is televised on Granada TV in January.  The US premiere of Hapgood, with revisions, opens at the Doolittle Theatre, Los Angeles, in April.  The US premiere of the stage version of Artist Descending a Staircase opens at the Helen Hayes Theatre, NYC, on November 30.  TS is appointed to the Board of the National Theatre.
1990The US premiere of Rough Crossing opens at the New Theatre, Brooklyn NY in February.  In September, the film of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, with screenplay and direction by TS, wins the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.  The film of TS's screenplay of The Russia House is released in December. 
1991In the Native State, a radio play, is broadcast on BBC Radio in April.  The film of TS's screenplay of Billy Bathgate is released in October. 
1992TS's marriage to Miriam Stoppard (separated since 1988) ends in divorce.  He openly courts actress Felicity Kendal, who appeared in several of his previous productions.  The first Broadway production of The Real Inspector Hound (on a double bill with The Fifteen Minute Hamlet) opens at the Criterion Theatre Stage Right on August 13.  The first attempt at filming his screenplay (with Marc Norman) of Shakespeare in Love falls through.
1993The National Theatre production of Arcadia opens on April 13.  TS's English narration for Lehar's opera The Merry Widow is first performed at the Glyndebourne Festival in June.  The Royal Shakespeare Company revival of Travesties, with revisions, opens at the Barbican on October 16.  A radio adaptation of Arcadia is broadcast.  TS writes a screen adaptation (unproduced) of Hopeful Monsters from the novel by Nicholas Mosley. 
1994The RSC production of Travesties transfers to the Savoy Theatre in London's West End on March 24.  The National Theatre production of Arcadia also transfers to the West End at the Haymarket Theatre on May 23.  A radio adaptation of his 1975 teleplay Three Men in a Boat is broadcast.  TS writes a screen adaptation (unproduced) of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats.  The Lincoln Center production (NYC premiere) of Hapgood, with revisions, opens at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre on November 11. 
1995Indian Ink, a revision of his 1991 radio play, In the Native State, is first performed at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford UK; the London production opens at the Aldwych Theatre, London, on February 27.  The US premiere of Arcadia opens at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center, NYC, on March 30.  The National Theatre revival of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead opens at the Lyttelton Theatre in December. 
1997TS's adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull is performed at the Old Vic, London, in May.  The National Theatre production of The Invention of Love opens at the Cottesloe Theatre on October 1, moving to the Lyttelton Theatre on December 20.  TS is knighted on December 12 and becomes Sir Tom Stoppard.  This same year he is made an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
1998A revival of The Real Inspector Hound opens at the Comedy Theatre, London, on April 22.  TS ends his relationship with Felicity Kendal.  The US premiere of his adaptation of The Seagull opens at the TheatreFour, NYC, on May 27.  A made-for-HBO production of TS's screenplay, Poodle Springs, is televised on July 25.  TS writes a screen adaptation (unproduced) of his 1993 stage play, ArcadiaThe Invention of Love opens at the Haymarket Theatre, London on November 3.  The film of the revision of the unproduced 1992 screenplay of Shakespeare in Love opens in December. 
1999The US premiere of Indian Ink opens at the American Conservatory Theater in the Geary Theatre, San Francisco, on February 24.  On March 21, TS wins an Academy Award for his screenplay of Shakespeare in Love.  A revival of The Real Thing opens at the Donmar Warehouse, London, on June 1.
2000The American Conservatory Theater production of The Invention of Love (US premiere) opens at the Geary Theater, San Francisco, on January 14.  The Donmar Warehouse production of The Real Thing plays a limited engagement at the Albery Theatre, London from January 13, before opening on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on April 17, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.  The film of TS's screenplay of Vatel is screened on May 10 at the Cannes Film Festival. 
2001The film of TS's screenplay of Enigma is screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22.  The Lincoln Center production of The Invention of Love opens at the Lyceum Theatre, NYC, on March 29.  The New York Shakespeare Festival production of The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols, opens on August 12. 
2002The National Theatre production of The Coast of Utopia opens at the Olivier Theatre on August 3.  The American Conservatory Theatre production of Night and Day opens at the Geary Theatre, San Francisco, on September 25.  The Wilma Theatre and Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra begin a six-performance run of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, on November 20. 
2003The National Theatre revival of Jumpers opens at the Lyttelton Theatre on June 19, transferring to the Piccadilly Theatre on November 14.  Galileo, written in the early 1970s, is finally staged on the Edinburgh Fringe in August.  NYC premiere of Indian Ink opens at the Walkerspace Theatre on August 16. 
2004The first Broadway revival of Jumpers (a transfer of the National Theatre production of 2003) opens at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on April 25.  TS's adaptation of Luigi Pirandello's Henry IV opens on May 4 at the Donmar Warehouse, London.
2005TS creates a half-hour stage version of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice for young actors.  Heroes, TS's adaptation of Gérald Sibleyras' Le Vent de Peupliers opens at Wyndham's Theatre, London, on October 18.
2006The American premiere of Henry IV is presented by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis on February 8.  Rock 'n' Roll premieres at the Royal Court Theatre, London on June 3, then transfers to the West End, opening on July 22 at the Duke of York's Theatre.  The US premiere of The Coast of Utopia trilogy of plays ("significantly revised") begins previews at New York's Lincoln Center on October 17.
2007The American premiere of Heroes opens at the Geffen Theatre, Los Angeles on April 10.  The Bourne Ultimatum, the film of TS's screenplay (cowritten with Tony Gilroy) is released.

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