'The Real Thing’ : A Broadside From The 1982 Play ‘The Real Thing’ : The Famous Cricket Bat Speech : Numbered Limited Edition Of Only 500 Copies, Each Signed By Sir Tom Stoppard

A Broadside from the play 'The Real Thing' - The Famous Cricket Bat Speech. Signed By Sir Tom Stoppard in red ink as issued. The broadside is 'Reprinted By Kind Permission of Faber and Faber Ltd' who published the play in 1982. This A4 size broadside was issued to celebrate the famous Cricket Bat speech which is spoken by the character Henry, at the climax of the play 'The Real Thing'. The speech became so famous that it was quoted in the New York Times obituary when Sir Tom Stoppard sadly passed away in November 2025. The broadside famously sold out on the day of issue. Reported to have originated from Stoppard's journal for 1970, in which he wrote 'Good prose is sprung like a cricket bat'. This is number '456' out of a limited edition of only 500 issued. I have more than one in stock, so the actual one you receive may be a different number to that shown in the image. The broadsheet is in pristine condition and is protected in a Secol transparent archival folder. A wonderful scarce ephemeral item. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.