C4

Tom Stoppard – Artist Descending A Staircase & Where Are They Now ?

C4 a. UK Edition

1a. First Edition Hardback

Faber and Faber. Published 29th October 1973. Hardback. White endpapers, half-title, title, [iv], 67 pages numbered 13-79. Pages 197mm x 115mm. Blue-grey cloth; down spine in gilt: ‘ARTIST DESCENDING A STAIRCASE  TOM STOPPARD  FABER’.

Dustjacket. 420mm x 203mm. Front: white with in red ‘Tom’, in black ‘Stoppard’, a blue line and then in black ‘ARTIST | Descending | a Staircase’, in red ‘&’, in blue ‘Where Are | They Now?’, a red line and in black ‘TWO PLAYS FOR RADIO’. ISBN 0-571-10393-6. Price on front flap £1.95.

1b. First Edition Paperback

Faber and Faber. Published 29th October 1973. Paperback with french wrappers. Half-title, title, [iv], 67 pages numbered 13-79. Pages 197mm x 117mm. Front: white with in red ‘Tom’, in black ‘Stoppard’, a blue line and then in black ‘ARTIST | Descending | a Staircase’, in red ‘&’, in blue ‘Where Are | They Now?’, a red line and in black ‘TWO PLAYS FOR RADIO’. ISBN 0-571-10394-4. Price on front flap 80p.

Note 1: the paperback edition was reprinted in 1976 and 1979 but with no noted changes to the text. The front covers of the reprints use different text fonts and a slight variation to the combinations of colours.

2. Proof

Faber and Faber. Paperback. Half-title, title, [iv], 67 pages numbered 13-79. Pages 197mm x 118mm. Front: pale artichoke with publication data text in black.

3. Acting Edition

Samuel French Ltd. Published April 1989. Paperback. Title, [ii], 41 pages numbered 1-41. Pages 214mm x 131mm. Front: white with at the top in black ‘Artist’; in the centre a black and white graphic with the word ‘DESCENDING’ going diagonally downwards; below in black ‘A STAIRCASE | A play by Tom Stoppard’, and between two horizontal lines ‘Samuel French Ltd’. ISBN 0-573-01687-9.

See photos below.

C4 b. USA Edition

1. The Fireside Theatre Edition

Faber and Faber. Published 1989. Hardback. White endpapers, half-title, [i], title, [vi], 92 pages numbered 1-92 (between pages 62 and 63 are two leaves with 4 black & white photographs of the1989 New York production), 1 blank. Pages 209mm x 135mm. Red paper-covered boards quarter bound in red cloth; down spine in gilt: ‘ARTIST DESCENDING A STAIRCASE  BY TOM STOPPARD  THE FIRESIDE THEATRE’. No ISBN.

Dustjacket. 503mm x 215mm. Front: the upper half is turquoise with in white ‘ARTIST | DESCENDING | A STAIRCASE’ and in black ‘BY TOM STOPPARD’. The lower half has a black and white photo of two men struggling by a staircase.

See photos below.

Where Are They Now ?
First broadcast on BBC Schools Radio on 28th January 1970.

Artist Descending A Staircase
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 14th November 1972
Theatrical Version:
UK Premiere: 2nd August 1988 at the King’s Head Theatre Club, London before transferring to the Duke Of York’s Theatre, London on 2nd December 1988.
USA Premiere:  in 1989 at Duke University, Durham, NC followed by a run at the Helen Hayes Theatre in New York.