NEW YORK — At 84, Tom Stoppard concedes that Leopoldstadt will probably be his final play, If so, he concludes a major career at the top of his game with this epic, deeply personal history of a Jewish family moving through the first half of the 20th century and, inevitably, encountering and falling prey to the Holocaust.
Absent is Stoppard’s affection for whimsy and wordplay, replaced by a driving dramatic power. The play arrived on Broadway after unanimous acclaim in London, capped by the Olivier Award.
Over here, the Tony Award committee will dig up other nominees, but it is unthinkable that Leopoldstadt — the title refers to Vienna’s Jewish ghetto — will not be named the season’s best play.