Writing, rewriting and revisiting the Cold War in Tom Stoppard’s Squaring the Circle. Poland 1980-81 (1984)1

Abstract

This article focuses on one of Tom Stoppard’s television plays entitled Squaring the Circle. Poland 1980-81, which was broadcast on Channel 4 in May 1984. The play is one of several of his plays on the Cold War. This study sheds light on the playwright’s dilemma as he deals with historical facts and events. While history is an account of events the playwright, like the historian, is nevertheless left speculating on the gaps and cracks that separate the actual experience from the recollection of the events under consideration. Hence, I show how Stoppard’s play relies on a certain number of metatheatrical features perceptible in this play which are akin to those found in docudramas or verbatim plays. Moreover, Stoppard’s political commitment and his concern about what was happening behind the Iron Curtain tend to show him in a new light. Finally, I examine the way in which history is performed throughout the play and the impact it may have had on the audience at the time.