Rock 'n' Roll
Tom Stoppard
This sprawling epic spans two decades, moving between Cambridge, England, and Prague, Czechoslovakia. It follows the lives of a Marxist professor and his Czech student against the backdrop of the Prague Spring and the Velvet Revolution. The play uses the music of The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd—and the subculture of rock music—as a symbol of resistance against Communist repression. It explores the tension between political ideology and the biological reality of human nature, culminating in a triumphant celebration of the fall of the Iron Curtain and the power of individual spirit.
Jan: A Czech student and rock music enthusiast whose journey from political apathy to dissident activity mirrors the struggles of the Czech people under Soviet rule. Max: A staunch, unrepentant British Communist professor who struggles to reconcile his ideological loyalty with the increasingly obvious failures and brutalities of the Soviet regime. Eleanor: Max’s wife, a scholar of Sappho who battles cancer, representing the fragile but enduring human spirit that transcends the cold calculations of political theory.
First Performance: 2006, at Royal Court Theatre, London
A massive success; the premiere was attended by Václav Havel and Mick Jagger, cementing its status as a cultural event.
Original Actors: Rufus Sewell, Brian Cox, Sinead Cusack