Stoppard at Work

Available for over a year

This documentary, part of the Celebrating Stoppard season, asks what it was like to be in a room with the playwright Tom Stoppard, who died in November 2025. What was he like to work with, rehearsing one of his plays or preparing a text for publication? Actors, directors, producers and more share insights into the man at work, giving us a glimpse of how he navigated the great collaboration of production: in development, in rehearsal, in moments of doubt and disapproval. Famously glamorous in public, generous and charming in private, Stoppard engaged fully with every stage of the process of bringing his work to audiences and readers: revising, debating, listening, sharing. It is the collegiate Stoppard that this programme investigates. Presented by Emma Fielding with contributions from actors Bill Nighy, Adrian Scarborough and Toby Jones; Stoppard’s editor at Faber, Dinah Wood; dramaturg Jack Bradley; producer Sonia Friedman; and director and playwright Patrick Marber. Sound design by Peter Ringrose Producers: Jessica Dromgoole and Mary Peate A Hooley production for BBC Radio 4