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Tom
Stoppard's "Rock 'N' Roll" The New England premiere of Tom Stoppard’s critically acclaimed “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” directed by leading Stoppard interpreter Carey Perloff, is set for November 7 – December 7 at the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston. A co-production with American Conservatory Theater of San Francisco (where Perloff is artistic director), this production is the first since the play’s successful runs in London and on Broadway, where it was nominated for a Tony Award. “Rock ‘n’ Roll” blends Stoppard’s
signature use of language with the raw energy of rock music to become
his most personal work to date. This marks the Huntington's 8th production
of a Stoppard piece. The story begins in 1968, with America embroiled in a violent
struggle for civil rights, a presidential election, and an unpopular war.
Meanwhile, Czechoslovakian Secretary of the Communist Party Alexander
Dubcek ushers in “Prague Spring,” an all-too-brief period
of liberalization and reform of Czech society. When music group The Velvet
Underground and other subversives begin to threaten Communist authority,
the Soviets swiftly overturn Dubcek’s reforms and imprison many
artists and intellectuals. Jan’s passion for democracy and music
continues until 1990 when Prague’s Velvet Revolution overthrows
the Communist government. “This play was clearly inspired by Stoppard's own
childhood,” Perloff commented. “What would have happened if,
after the war, instead of staying in England and being raised there as
an English schoolboy, he had gone back to Prague? But of course, the play
is also much more than that. Stoppard also asks ‘What is our relationship
as individual people to these enormous shifts in history?’ ‘Where
do artists change the direction of history?’” According to Huntington Artistic Director Peter
DuBois, “‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ is one
of Tom Stoppard's most profound dramatic achievements. It vibrates with
beautiful fragile emotion, and has an intoxicating intellectual richness.
‘Rock ‘n’ Roll” is a real feast for actors, and
the music sends a jolt of energy through the play - the energy of revolution,
both personal and political.” Carey Perloff is in her 17th season as artistic director
of San Francisco’s A.C.T. and a long-time collaborator of Stoppard’s.
For A.C.T., she has directed the West Coast premiere of “Rock ’n’
Roll,” the American premieres of “The Invention of
Love” and “Indian Ink,” and
acclaimed productions of “Travesties,” “The
Real Thing,” “Night and Day,” and “Arcadia.”
Her 2000 production of “Mary Stuart” for
the Huntington was honored with the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding
Production. -- OnStage Boston 10/29/08
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