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Stoppard is difficult. I purchased the book, "Rock 'n Roll" because I was going to see a performance of the play. However, after the performance in discussion with friends, we found the play to be enlightening. I knew that with many characters in the play, plus transferring the action between Prague and Cambridge would be confusing. I was already acquainted with the characters and scenes so I was comfortable at the performance. I owe most of my participation to having read the book. I do not think I would have read the book without plans to see the play.
Stoppard is a genius. Although the play is much better on stage, the script is a great read. I would highly recommend it.
I'm not much of a play-goer, but for what it's worth it was one of the best plays I have seen in recent years. I bought this play because I was going to see the Huntington Theater production in Boston and as my hearing deteriorates I like to read plays before seeing them. This is really a fine play and although it deals with big ideas it is a lot more passionate and less cerebral than I expected of Stoppard. I found it well worth my time and money to read the book, and it was interesting to see some differences between the Broadway version (documented in the book) and the Boston version in the last scene. Both scenes work well, but I think the Boston version is slightly tighter.
The Russian tanks are rolling into Prague. Rock 'n' Roll: A New PlayI am taking a class, studying playwrights Harold Pinter, August Wilson, and the genius of Tom Stoppard. Stoppard's sweeping and passionalte play spans two countries, three generations, and 22 turbulent years. Thanks to Amazon.com, the paperback edition of Tom Stoppard's Rock 'N' Roll arrived in excellent condition and in plenty of time for my class. Rock 'n' Roll, winner of London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play, is set in August 1968. In the end, love remains ---and so does rock 'n' roll. This is a funny, wise, and triumphant play.
This is a sophisticated play about the tribulations of Czechoslovakia as seen from England. The author himself was Czech living in England; his main character returns to his home country (the author himself did not). But the play is also very much about human relations, not just politics. It is a play worth seeing as well as reading.
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