The Real Inspector Hound

by Tom Stoppard

The ultimate parody of the stage and literary convention of the country-house mystery. 'It's an object of pure, virtuoso craft and display, as luxuriously self-sufficient as a netsuke or Faberge Easter egg. But it's as nearly perfect in its kind as a P.G. Wodehouse plot; tiny, ludicrous and beautiful as an ivory Mickey Mouse...It's time we stopped dismissing comedy as an inferior genre.' Observer

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Mystery, Fiction, Classics, Humor

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Sir Tom Stoppard was a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and political freedom, often delving into the deeper philosophical thematics of society. Stoppard has been a playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation. He was knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997.

Born in Czechoslovakia, Stoppard left as a child refugee, fleeing imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in Britain after the war, in 1946, having spent the previous three years (1943–1946) in a boarding school in Darjeeling in the Indian Himalayas. After being educated at schools in Nottingham and Yorkshire, Stoppard became a journalist, a drama critic and then, in 1960, a playwright.

Stoppard's most prominent plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), Jumpers (1972), Travesties (1974), Night and Day (1978), The Real Thing (1982), Arcadia (1993), The Invention of Love (1997), The Coast of Utopia (2002), Rock 'n' Roll (2006) and Leopoldstadt (2020). He wrote the screenplays for Brazil (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Russia House (1990), Billy Bathgate (1991), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Enigma (2001), and Anna Karenina (2012), as well as the HBO limited series Parade's End (2013). He directed the film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), an adaptation of his own 1966 play, with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth as the leads.

He has received numerous awards and honours including an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and five Tony Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 11 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". It was announced in June 2019 that Stoppard had written a new play, Leopoldstadt, set in the Jewish community of early 20th-century Vienna. The play premiered in January 2020 at Wyndham's Theatre. The play went on to win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and later the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play.

Reviews

[Nick Grammos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life imitates art. No, really it does!

The Real Inspector Hound plays with the fourth wall phenomenon in the theatre. In theatre the audience sits separated from the performance and unable to influence the outcomes on the stage. That passive relationship was for a long time considered the necessary relationship between actors and audience.

The viewer is also meant to sit back and accept the premise of the play and go with it. This is called the suspension of disbelief, meaning you suspend your critical faculties that tell you you are in a theatre, that the actors are performing and that someone sat at desk and wrote the play very deliberately. Nothing is random as though walking down the street by chance you observed a fascinating drama conjured out of thin air.

Back in year nine, I took the drama elective subject at school. It was kind of fun until I heard that we would put on the school play at the end of the semester. I was very nervous. That play was The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard.

The premise of this play is that two critics, Birdboot and Moon sit to the side of the stage watching from their box, the play called The Real Inspector Hound. The so called ‘play’ at the centre of it all is a real stinker full of cliches like a manor house by the sea surrounded by swamps and fog and impenetrable in and out under the worse weather conditions, a long lost husband that sort of thing. And there’s a madman on the loose making his way to the manor according to the radio. The old servant speaks in a pre-emptive tension building narrative voice so we are constantly kept up to date of live real life ‘developments’.

There’s a body on the stage that everyone except the characters on stage get to see. The audience is already in on things, the fourth wall is pervious. The plot is wet as the weather, everyone knows it. So what is the premise? Well, theatre and its conventions.

But, Birdboot and Moon (I was playing the part of Birdboot by the way) have their own little drama going on. Critic jealousy and competitiveness. Birdboot is a bit of a scoundrel, chasing young actresses, promising them a big future through positive reviews, that sort of thing.

But, as happens in theatre all that real life stuff like love take over and Birdboot falls for one of the actresses on the stage during the ‘performance’. He breaks through the fourth wall, no spoiler here, really, I doubt anyone will watch this with the gasp of horror at what comes next, the broken conventions are now conventions themselves. Everything is up for grabs now.

The performance for some silly reason, left unexplained repeats itself. The drama of the first act starts again as the second act and … well Birdboot insinuates himself on the stage, answers a phone call on the stage, talks to his wife tells her everything is fine and then proceeds to lust after the lady of the house. Of course that’s not all. It’s a murder mystery, a wild denouement follows.

There’s a kissing scene between Birdboot and the lady of the manor near the end.

Now, during year nine rehearsals, I have to tell you, Stoppard's ideas played out in life as it does in art. Birdboot’s love interest, the lady of the manor, played by real life Actress X takes an interest in Birdboot played by your reviewer. Birdboot is planted a serious kiss that everyone notices during rehearsals leading to wild speculations among year nine drama students. What ensues is more theatre with silly year nine real life stuff acted out as a fumbling “love story”. But it doesn’t have as good a denouement as The Real Inspector Hound. I sometimes wish the fourth wall was still there. Oh well, life is more interesting than theatre, but only rarely. I'm pretty sure Actress X won't be reading this review. Our paths diverged very rapidly after sharing the stage. But you never know, people get nostalgic.

When this play was first performed, Ronnie Barker (Two Ronnies) played Birdboot.

[Paul Ataua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a Tom Stoppard fan, and this one hour one act play was one of his works that I have never read before. There were a few wonderful Stoppard moments:

Magnus: How long have you been a pedestrian?
Simon: Ever since I could walk.

Unfortunately, there were not many and those that were there were not as memorable as most of the other plays. Worth listening to if you are a Stoppard lover, but to be avoided otherwise.

[Freddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no clue what just happened, but I think I enjoyed it?

[Parnian.K · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny and clever story about a time when the staged fourth wall breaks. A show within a show!


Watched at Douglas College
Nov 12 & 13, 2025

I liked it even more on the second viewing, and I’m upgrading my rating from 4 stars to 5. I’ll definitely read the play.

[عماد العتيلي · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play is truly a maze. Sure, it is hilarious, but it leaves the reader with a peculiar sense of loneliness and strangeness! Just like life itself! I think that this play is meant to represent reality.
“MOON: Does this play know where it is going?
BIRDBOOT: Well, it seems open and shut to me”

While reading this play, readers cannot figure out where it is going. We, humans, actually ask the same question regarding life: Where is it going?



In my opinion, I think that Moon is the most important character in the whole play. He is the honest and true representation of the real helpless human being. His burning desire for a promotion reflects our different burning desires as human beings. Whenever he reviews plays, his theater colleagues inquire, “Where’s Higgs?” a question that diminishes his own sense of self. Every one of us experienced such a thing many times in his\her life, and that is why I think Moon is a genuine character despite his many faults, or even crimes maybe!





I really enjoyed reading this play. And I think that Stoppard showed us, through the shape of his play, how one man’s fate is another man’s fiction. Stoppard leaves us begging the inevitable, logical question: Whose illusion is our reality?

I recommend this play to all of my friends 

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

LMFAO WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST READ!? THIS IS AMAZING <3 thank you patty for making us read this :D It is very absurd

[Cindee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and clever! It was a parody of Agatha Christie's famous 'The Mousetrap'. Every scene, character and action of the genre was wroughtly exaggerated and overstated to play on the traditional conventions. Stoppard played on everything to make it comical and humourous. It also shows how the 'cosy' murder mysteries are sometimes a little bit illogical and too coincidental (especially where Mrs Drudge comes in) but it is also how mysteries work. The little coincidences in mysteries are often the most important pieces of the puzzle, but sometimes, like in 'The Real Inspeactor Hound', it is too coincidental that it makes absolutely no sense at all. Everything was blown out of proportion but in a way that works.

Absolute ludicrous.

[andreea. · Rating 2 out of 5]

.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being in the midst of an Agatha Christie binge, I found it refreshing to finally read this early Tom Stoppard (long) one-act play. I've always known of it but never really knew what it was about... until now. 

One would like to say the play is simplicity itself - and, in a sense, it is: two theatre critics go to work - attending a performance of an AC-esque mystery - and find themselves getting more and more immersed in / of a piece with the reality of the play. 

~ except it's much more meta than that. 

The material is a concept akin to sketch comedy and most of it broadly plays that way. But it's cleverly realized as being more theatrical by way of its construction. Even with its absurdist-theatre tone, it begins with its feet rooted in a sort of logic... then it moves to a twist as an extension of its theme... then it subverts for ultimate lunacy and hilarity. 

It's doubtful that there's a point to it all other than silliness. As well, it doesn't seem to send up critics as worthy of scorn (though it seems very informed), nor does it belittle the mystery genre. If anything, 'TRIH' reflects a fondness for the form. 

A good deal of the dialogue is quite funny. In the hands of an inventive director and a talented cast, this would seem to unfold swimmingly. 

All of the characters are given ample opportunity to shine but I was leaning heavily toward the charwoman - Mrs. Drudge - who seems blessed with many of the choicest bits, i.e.:

(into phone) Hello, the drawing-room of Lady Muldoon's country residence, one morning in early Spring. ... Hello!--the draw--Who?... Whom did you wish to speak to?... I'm afraid there is no one of that name here, this is all very mysterious and I'm sure it's leading up to something. I hope nothing is amiss for we - that is Lady Muldoon and her houseguests - are here cut off from the world, including Magnus, the wheelchair-ridden, half-brother of her ladyship's husband Lord Albert, who ten years ago went out for a walk on the cliffs and was never seen again.

Perhaps I should have read the play through twice - and I might yet - cause some of it seems to have the rough-around-the-edges shagginess sometimes evident in early works. Or perhaps part of it can work better on the stage than on the page. Or perhaps a portion of the wordplay / references from a writer much smarter than I am simply flew overhead.

Nevertheless. for a work now over half-a-century old, 'TRIH' seems to hold up wonderfully. From the actors' POV, I'm sure it's a blast to perform!

[Martyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbly funny and clever effort from the always excellent Stoppard.

[Ronnie Avansino · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

A silly fun quick read! I knew kind of what happened and yet I was still surprised!

[Emilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

How does one write a self-aware review of a play about reviewers… probably not by using ‘one’ to refer to oneself in the first sentence. Anyway, two critics sit side-by-side watching a whodunnit and relate in monologue their sweeping conclusions. Neither listens to the other, each entirely absorbed in their own analysis. And I suppose there is something painfully relatable in this continual desire to find meaning in art. Even the way you watch a play like this, scouring for every hint and sign, mirrors a desire in daily life to note all which might shed light on some small truth. When Birdboot and Moon come onto stage, the narratives intertwine. The actors repeat their lines and allow the critics to reply as themselves. Their characters an extension of themselves. No distinction is made between stage and corporeal death.

[Savior Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Real Inspector Hound" by Tom Stoppard is a witty and satirical play that takes a humorous jab at the conventions of the traditional murder mystery genre. The play features two theater critics, Moon and Birdboot, who become embroiled in the crime drama unfolding on stage, blurring the lines between observers and participants.

Pros: 👍

- Sharp Satire: Stoppard’s play is a clever critique of theatrical conventions and critic culture.
- Engaging Plot: The story is engaging, with an interesting twist on the murder mystery genre.
- Humor and Wit: The play is filled with witty dialogue and humorous situations.

Cons: 👎

- Niche Appeal: The play’s humor and references might be more appreciated by those familiar with theater and literary criticism.
- Complex Structure: Some audiences might find the play's meta-theatrical structure a bit complex or confusing.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

4 out of 5 stars. A smart and entertaining play, though its appeal might be more niche due to its theatrical in-jokes and complex structure.

Reading Suggestions:

- 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead' by Tom Stoppard – Another play by Stoppard that mixes humor with existential themes.
- 'Six Characters in Search of an Author' by Luigi Pirandello – A play that similarly blurs the lines between reality and fiction.
- 'Chantilly' by Savior Sullivan – For a modern narrative with a unique approach to storytelling.

Tom Stoppard's "The Real Inspector Hound" stands out for its sharp wit, clever narrative structure, and satirical take on theater and criticism. It’s a play that not only entertains but also makes a statement about the nature of theater and the role of those who critique it.

[Reese Fulham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acted and analyzed this piece in my lit class, it was fun, it was difficult to navigate the post modernism themes however it was cleverly written and i enjoyed playing moon!

[MacK · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Tom Stoppard. I really do. Shakespeare in Love and Rozencrantz and Guildenstern, really inventive takes on the Bard.

But this blows everything else out of the water. To take your standard blase muder mystery and explode it into a post-modern absurdist reflection of modern society and aesthetic idiocy (much like my phrase "post modern absurdist reflection of modern society") is pure genius. You can really tell that it's excellent though because even without delving into the figurative depths of the piece my drama students were about ready to mount their own production of it, only, as one girl said: "the rest of the school wouldn't want to understand...but once you do...this is HILARIOUS."

18-year-olds grooving on Stoppard. Yet another reason why I love teaching.

[Alborz Taheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

خودِ مترجم هم به این مطلب واقف است که این نمایشنامه از اون دست نمایشنامه هاست که "ترجمه" قسمتی از بازی ها زبانی تام استوپارد را نمی تواند منتقل کند . و مهم ترین نکته به نظرم همین بازی های زبانی و روایتِ داستان است .
ایده های خوبی در نمایشنامه وجود داشت . از میزانسن گرفته تا هجوِ منتقدین تا جا به جایی منتقدان و بازیگران نمایش و ...
اما به نظرم مهم ترین نکته همان ساختار زبانی و روایت است ، که خواننده رو به خود جذب می کند .

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clever and absolutely hilarious. A mickey-take of Agatha Christie’s Mouse Trap but so much more than that. I didn’t stop laughing throughout; my wife was laughing at me laughing so much.

I can’t believe it’s been thirty years since I read this for my English ‘A’ level…

[Stas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suggested to me by my gf. Glad I listened to her: A very short but very entertaining read. Puckeridge, you cunning bastard!

[Nicholas Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read widely in Tom Stoppard (just the R&G Are Dead) but some of the wordplay and back-and-forth seem very Stoppardian - slightly unrealistic and too-clever-by-half. For that I've knocked a star off, but add that back if you love that sort of interplay.

The underlying detective satire and farce is solid and Stoppard definitely splits the storytelling atom of mixing performer and audience together - at about two thirds through I didn't think he would satisfyingly resolve things but he does so, and it's a nice little short piece.

[Kushagri · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

So weird. I think I understood it? Very funny. But good.

[dhishfish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hehe

[Bibliothecat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel rather bad – it does not seem particularly fair to give a low rating if you know from the start the book is not your cup of tea. I doubt it was bad, but I could not care for it at all. One of its main issues is certainly the fact that it is a play. I simply cannot enjoy plays the same way I enjoy novels. But then again, The Importance of Being Earnest was not entirely lost on me. So perhaps my rating is not all that unjustified after all? The stage play itself, though, might be interesting as the actual setting and the double plot that eventually intertwine seemed interesting and unique. But just as a reading experience, I could not have cared any less.

I am certain this is a good book/play if read by the right audience – if you enjoy plays and crime this might be for you.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha! Fantastic. Hilarious. Lighter fare than some of his others, but definitely worth the read. Am planning on remembering the "Stand-ins of the world stand up" speech.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderfully metafictional.

[Christina Packard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short play that would be fun to watch. Free online to read.

[Lark of The Bookwyrm's Hoard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stoppard has a genius for combining humor with really thought-provoking philosophical questions, and he pulls off both in The Real Inspector Hound. I'm going to avoid the pretentiousness of the two theatre critic characters, Moon and Birdboot, and simply say that I laughed throughout the entire reading* at Stoppard's hysterically melodramatic parody of Agatha Christie–style plays as well as his slyly satirical ridiculing of highbrow theatre (and literary) criticism. But the play also left me pondering the ways in which theatre and life are both real and unreal, the nature of the lies we tell and the characters we play, and the ways in which our perception of reality is influenced by our position and role (particularly whether we are part of the action or merely observing it.)

I loved it.


*I'm in a small playreading group that includes several college friends; we started during the pandemic lockdowns and kept going on an irregular basis. We gather online to read plays aloud together, with however many of us can participate on a given date. It has been a wonderful way to experience plays I haven't read before, as well as a fun opportunity to undertake roles in favorite plays that I never had a chance to portray onstage.

[Steve Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Stoppard’s plays are brilliant, but a challenge.

When our local Civic Theater staged Stoppard’s “Travesties” (and cast me as Vladimir Lenin), I had to actually do deep research on the earliest days of the Russian Revolution as well as the literary icons that Stoppard had put into the work. I came away from that thinking that a PhD in early 20th century, literature and history just might fully appreciate what he had done with the script. By the time we put the play to bed, I think I finally (sort of) understood a little bit of what he was trying to do. A member of the literati I clearly am not.

With this one it wasn’t necessary to do all that, but reading it twice is definitely going to be required for me to fully wrap my head around what he’s doing. I get it… I think? And it is funny, but very weird.

So it’s a play about a Whodunnit mystery along the lines of an Agatha Christie novel. Two theater critics are watching the play, and making comments on it. Pretty soon they get swept up in the play…literally brought into it by the characters. It’s almost surreal. Like with. “Travesties” the audience has to be on their toes.

Stoppard challenges everyone with his plays. Directors, actors, and the audience all have their work cut out for them. This one is no different.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

"How long have you been a pedestrian?"
"Ever since I could walk."

I do always love me some Stoppard. This wasn't my favourite play by him and I think I'd give it 3,5 stars, mainly due to the buildup. As the characters also readily admit, the pacing was odd and slow to start with, which made it less invigorating than I'm used to from Stoppard -- but of course that is part of its genius. This play is a parody of British crime like Agatha Christie and can easily be read in the light of crime shows like Midsomer Murders today: a group of odd people gathered together, some of them having just suspiciously arrived there, a madman in a wheelchair, an old man lusting after younger women, secret identities abundant. All of those stories are oddly paced, with the reveal only right at the end -- a reveal you almost couldn't have foretold, but so easily could have. All in all, this was a good read, but I think it would be an even better read upon rereading and looking for earlier dropped clues in the text -- as, again, is true for me for most crime fiction.

[Douglas Cosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars -- At first, this Stoppard farce seems a pure satire of on-stage mysteries (a la The Mousetrap). But once the hijinks really kick in, the reader/audience realizes that this play is all about Stoppard's (and probably many other playwright's) angst toward vapid theatre critics. Its main condemnation is concerned with how the personal flaws and egos of the critics get in the way of any real artistic review or conversation. Stoppard uses his familiar play-within-a-play approach to make the critics part of the drama, eventually having them take over the action and push the internal play to the background.

While much of Stoppard's language is genius, with puns and quips galore, the comedy gets a little stale by the end of it all. This play is also difficult to stage, with the critics having to exist somewhere between the play-within-a-play and the real audience. The logistics and overlapping timing of this liminal setup are tricky. In fact, I recently saw this play performed in one of my local theatres, and the performance was strained and confusing.

[Marco Lizarraga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall: 7/10

I really like this play. I love the simple plot and premise for the what's happening onstage (the play within the play) and the whole critic thing is very entertaining to read. I fucking love Moon. He has the most fascinating arc. I don't even understand it fully, but I can read and he just changed so much through realizations and was completely taken down from his position of authority. I'm sure there is a lot of meaning that I'm missing, but it's very meta and absurd. Especially with Birdshit and Moon becoming the actors onstage, clearly this does not take place in a grounded reality. There's other clues to that as well, but that really did it for me. It was funny too, not in the way that you're laughing out loud, but more entranced by how familiar but also really bizarre what is happening in the play and what is said, especially by Moon. Yeah it's really good. I doesn't have the most in-depth characters, but like I said, I think there's meaning I'm missing from Moon and Birdshit. Because they have some inner conflict going on.