The Coast of Utopia is a 2002 trilogy of plays by Tom Stoppard, focused on the philosophical debates in pre-revolutionary Russia between 1833 and 1866. The plays are entitled Voyage, Shipwreck, and Salvage, and the entire trilogy totals nine hours in length. The trilogy was performed in repertory at the Royal National Theatre in London to full houses and received critical praise; however, revivals are likely to be infrequent due to the enormous cast and immense technical resources required.
The trilogy had its American premiere in 2006, directed by Jack O'Brien at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center, New York City, where it closed on May 13, 2007. The cast includes Tony Award winners Brían F. O'Byrne, Richard Easton, Jennifer Ehle and Billy Crudup, along with Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton, Martha Plimpton, David Harbour, Jason Butler Harner and Amy Irving.
The trilogy is also performed in Russia, it was opened at Moscow's Russian Academic Youth Theatre in October 2007(directed by Alexey Borodin).
The play holds the record for the most Tony Awards ever received by a non-musical production, scooping 7 awards at the 2007 ceremony, including best play, best direction, best featured actor, best featured actress and all three design awards (costume, lighting and scenic). Stoppard told Vanity Fair he wrote much of the play during repeated listenings of the Pink Floyd song Comfortably Numb.
