Tom Stoppard play comes to the Everyman. (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Tom Stoppard play comes to the Everyman.

FROM Monday to Saturday, July 1-6, The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard, the author of plays including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Arcadia and the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love comes to the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham.

John Gordon Sinclair plays Henry, the smartest and most wickedly witty playwright of his generation.

But although Henry can write about betrayal, can he live with it? When he starts to blur the boundaries between life and art, things become rather sticky, and Henry's about to learn a tough lesson about true love ...

"I'm really rather proud of The Real Thing. I wanted to write a play about love, marriage and friendship. For better or worse, that's it - a love play," said Tom Stoppard.

"I'm tempted to call The Real Thing a modern masterpiece, and certainly one of the best British plays of the last decade.

It's a remarkable thing: that combination of being impeccably constructed, but with some very rich, deep, raw and very human characters," said director Alan Strachan.

Set against a soundtrack of sensational 60s pop hits, The Real Thing was first performed in 1982. It later went on to West End and Broadway runs.

John Gordon Sinclair is well-known for playing the title role in the hit 1980 film Gregory's Girl, as well as its follow-up Gregory's Two Girls.

His remarkable career includes an Olivier Award for the role of George in She Loves Me. Appearing beside him in The Real Thing will be Liz Crowther (Annie Hart in Channel Five's Family Affairs).

Tickets from the box office on 01242 572573 or w