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Get tickets to The Invention of Love in London starring Simon Russell Beale.

Simon Russell Beale and Matthew Tennyson star in Hampstead Theatre‘s major new revival of Tom Stoppard’s acclaimed drama The Invention of Love.

Directed by Blanche McIntyre (The Merry Wives of Windsor – RSC), BAFTA, Olivier and Tony award-winning actor Simon Russell Beale (The Lehman Trilogy, House of the Dragon) stars as A E Housman in this extraordinary drama, alongside Matthew Tennyson (King Lear, Almeida; A Monster Calls, Old Vic) as the young Housman.

One of Britain’s greatest living playwright, Tom Stoppard returns to Hampstead after the triumphant revivals of Hapgood and Rock ‘n’ Roll. Stoppard is winner of eight Evening Standard, three Olivier and five Tony Awards, and his plays include Leopoldstadt, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Arcadia.

The Invention of Love is playing at Hampstead Theatre from 4 December 2024 to 1 February 2025.

In Tom Stoppard’s play, A E Housman is, as he understands it, finally dead. The noted Latin scholar and celebrated poet of A Shropshire Lad is being ferried across the Styx to Hades – but beyond the stygian gloom on the other side of the river he finds, to his surprise, the Oxford University of his youth. Alive with the academic debates that shaped his work and the friendships that shaped his life this is the Oxford of Ruskin and Pater, a place still marked by the brilliance of a recently departed student called Wilde…

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Performance Information

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Stars and Creatives

Who is in the cast of The Invention of Love?

Starring Simon Russell Beale as A E Houseman, Matthew Tennyson as the young Housman, Dickie Beau as Oscar Wilde, Stephen Boxer as Dr Jowett/Labouchère, Jonnie Broadbent as Walter Pater/Frank Harris, Seamus Dillane as Pollard, Florence Dobson as Katharine Housman, Peter Landi as Pattison/Postgate, Ben Lloyd-Hughes as Moses Jackson, Michael Marcus as Chamberlain/Ellis, Dominic Rowan as John Ruskin/W. T. Stead/Jerome K. Jerome, and Alan Williams.

Who are the creative team of The Invention of Love?

Written by Tom Stoppard, directed by Blanche McIntyre

Designer Morgan Large, lighting designer Peter Mumford, composer and sound designer Max Pappenheim, movement director Polly Bennett, assistant director Matt Dann, casting director Anna Cooper CDG

Important Notes

Content warnings: This production contains references to suicide and the use of homophobic language. There is also discussion of juvenile prostitution. 

Access performances: Captioned Performance: Tuesday 21 January, 7.30pm; Audio Described Performances: Saturday 25 January, 2.30pm

Venue Information

Hampstead Theatre , Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London, NW3 3EU

Nearest Tube or Train: Swiss Cottage (Jubilee Line)

Nearest Buses: C11, 13, 31, 46, 82, 113, 187, 268

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Critics' reviews of The Invention of Love

★★★★ "Simon Russell Beale is perfectly cast" - What's On Stage

★★★★ "Masterful Simon Russell Beale ignites The Invention of Love" - Financial Times

★★★★ "Simon Russell Beale commands the stage" - Telegraph

★★★★ "Utterly wonderful" - The Independent

Frequently Asked Questions

The Invention of Love is playing at the Hampstead Theatre in London
Yes, The Invention of Love has matinee performances on the following days: Thursday, Saturday
No, sorry, The Invention of Love has now completed its run and is no longer on sale.

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