About The Book

In Tom Stoppard’s hilarious and poignant translation of Gérald Sibleyras’s Heroes, winner of the Laurence Olivier Best New Comedy Award, we meet three World War I veterans who pass their monotony-filled days in a military hospital by engaging in verbal battles of long-forgotten military campaigns, grumblings about the staff, and reflections on their lives. Henri is afflicted by a gammy leg, Gustave suffers from agoraphobia, and Philippe passes out because of a piece of shrapnel lodged in his brain. Their cantankerous camaraderie becomes strained when Gustave conjures up an escape plan. Looking over the cemetery to the poplars beyond, they dream of freedom. Will today be the day they finally make it to Indochina or perhaps only as far as the top of the hill?

Praise

“Achingly funny, piercingly sad . . . Line by beautifully delivered line the play proves wonderfully entertaining. There are echoes of Waiting for Godot in the characters’ attempts to pass the time with little ‘canters’ of conversation.” —Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph

“A brilliant translation by Tom Stoppard.” —Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times (London)

“The sound of Heroes is the sound of a direct theatrical hit, a boulevard comedy bull’s-eye. . . . Heroes achieves a seductive fusion of the comic, sad and absurd.” —Nicholas de Jongh, Evening Standard