Tom Stoppard was born in Czechoslovakia and spent his childhood in Singapore and India before emigrating to England after the Second World War. His plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Thing, The Invention of Love, Rock 'n' Roll, and the trilogy The Coast of Utopia.
John Lahr has been the senior theater critic for The New Yorker since 1992. He is the author of two novels as well as 23 books on the theater and related subjects. He has also written numerous stage adaptations. His latest book, Honky Tonk Parade: New Yorker Profiles on Show People, came out in fall 2005.