Travesties

Doing some research on an Eye Weekly piece on Soulpepper's upcoming Travesties, I came across this website concerning a recent Seattle production. Panic. You have to know all this to understand the play? But I think it was a bit of an overreaction on my part and on the part of the theatre group. I think Stoppard only really cared that we were familiar with the outlines of Stalin, Joyce and Tzara--the Che T-shirt image of them--to get the play. I think it's more about the joy of words and art than history. Or so I hope.