Called an "extraordinary, epic drama of politics, persecution, and protest" (Nicholas de Jongh, The Evening Standard), Tom Stoppard's Rock 'N' Roll...
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Jan 09, 2008
Tung
rated it: 
The newest work from a master playwright. The story focuses on a grad student named Jan who returns to his home country of Czechoslovakia around the same time of the Soviet invasion; and his mentor Max who is dealing with family issues back home in England. The play traces their politically active lives over the course of two decades. The story’s title comes from its reliance upon the revolutionary roots of music and the power of art to transform society via acts of rebellion (although I am sim
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Dec 27, 2007
Mike
rated it: 
Typically wonderful Stoppard. I had heard about this play--which follows a few characters through 25(ish) years of history, centered around political resistance and social change in Czechoslovakia--and thought it'd be good (it's Stoppard). But also, being a shallow sort, I kept putting off reading, assuming that the specifics of that history wouldn't grab me.
It is a masterful condensed history of how such political struggles and transformation affected people, and it's powerfully a More...
It is a masterful condensed history of how such political struggles and transformation affected people, and it's powerfully a More...
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Dec 16, 2008
Bruce
rated it: 
Digging into my holiday presents early with this one, and devoured it in two days. (Then again, plays tend to be short... all dialogue and action must be performable in a single sitting not to exceed three hours and bear in mind that it usually takes less time to read in your head what you would otherwise say aloud.) The plot of this one is easily summarized, so I'll dispense with it quickly. Rock 'N' Roll follows the lives of a communist Cambridge professor and his Czech protege in snapshots
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Dec 17, 2009
Amy
rated it: 
Bought this in London last summer after seeing the play, which was complex, funny, sad and amazing. For me, it came down to the heartbreak of the possibility that your heroes aren't what they seem, and the crushing realization that your loyalties/ideals/dreams may have been misplaced all along.
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Jan 11, 2008
Rick
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Stoppard’s most recent play is a tale of political and social revolution set to the music of rock and roll, with a meditation on ideology’s inflexibilities chucked in for balance. Set in Cambridge and Czechoslovakia in shifting scenes that jump forward from 1968 to 1990. An old leftie has to come to grips with the failures and then the fall of European communism. Two Czech friends battle over signing letters of protest—the nihilist rock and roller refuses to sign one, then the journalist/politic
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Aug 09, 2011
Liss
rated it:
On the surface is a play full of sex, politics & rock 'n' roll. Underneath that surface is a yearning to change the world for the better. A yearning play that is both personal and symbolic. (likely MPAA "R" for strong language) Note: excellent monologues for men 20-60 and women 40+.
This play spans nearly thirty years and takes place near Cambridge University, England and in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Music is hugely important to this play a number of very specific rock 'n' roll More...
This play spans nearly thirty years and takes place near Cambridge University, England and in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Music is hugely important to this play a number of very specific rock 'n' roll More...
Feb 24, 2009
Sarah
rated it:
A perfect marriage of the personal and the political occur in Stoppard's insightful, smaller work from 2006. Concerned as most of his work is with the ideological--as it loses verve under oppression or repression of the human spirit--his characters here leap from the page (for the most part; per usual, his side characters sometimes suffer at the hand of adding interesting vocal rhythms to the piece).
The lives of British Communist Max and his pupil Jan intersect across the years of t More...
The lives of British Communist Max and his pupil Jan intersect across the years of t More...
Oct 16, 2009
Merilee
rated it:
Tom Stoppard is one of my favorite contemporary playwrights and this 2006 play does not disappoint (I will see the play performed next week in Toronto). The Czech born Stoppard returns to his roots with this play about the years between the Prague Spring of 1969 and the Velvet Revolution of 1989. The book is dedicated to Stoppard's friend, Vaclav Havel. I would say that Havel is also S's hero, but I think that he doesn't believe in heros, as he has one of his leading characters, Jan, say:
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Jan 11, 2011
Frank
rated it: 
I'm not sure I understand this play. I assume it would be better in performance. But on the page, it falls short for me. Too much talking about ideas, and arguments over ideologies, without enough interpersonal drama. Not that there isn't any, but it takes a clear backseat to politics. The subplot involving Syd Barrett was interesting, though, and I enjoyed the use of him as the "Piper" at the beginning.
So, I didn't really like the play, but I have got to be missing some More...
So, I didn't really like the play, but I have got to be missing some More...
Jan 08, 2012
Simon
rated it:
I don't know why it took me so long to read this work by a writer I admire, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. As usual there are a lot of ideas in play and I'd love to see those ideas illuminated in a good production; reading any play is always half a loaf at best. Rock n' Roll isn't as tightly constructed a work as Stoppard's masterpiece Arcadia; it rolls to a stop rather than ending. Yet the way Stoppard blends politics, music, sex, death, and generational change here is very exciting. Strongly r
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Dec 29, 2011
Larry
rated it:
I first heard of this Tom Stoppard play when I was reading Disturbing the Peace by Václav Havel. The play was referred to as a companion piece to the book in one of the GR reviews. Stoppard is an admirer of Havel. The play overlaps with the events of Prague Spring, the Velvet Revolution and ensuing years. Rock ‘n’ Roll was first performed in London on June 3, 2006 and in North America in New York City on October 19, 2007. The play is set in Prague, Czechoslovakia and Cambridge, England from 19
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Jan 26, 2011
Mely
rated it:
Like a lot of Stoppard plays, Rock 'N' Roll bears a dense weight of ambition, exposition, and information; like a lot of Stoppard plays, it slips between multiple time periods; like a lot of Stoppard plays, it's concerned with the slippage between personal connection and political event, how history shapes the individual and the individual shapes history.
Most of those other Stoppard plays are much better.
Full review: http://coffeeandink.livejournal.com/771348.html
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Most of those other Stoppard plays are much better.
Full review: http://coffeeandink.livejournal.com/771348.html
More...
Mar 09, 2009
Chad
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jun 24, 2008
Baiocco
rated it:
I like Tom Stoppard but I really couldn't get into this. I borrowed it from my coworker who is a regular theater goer and he thought this play was great. Its a character very similar to Stoppard who is living between London and post-Russian occupation Czechoslovakia (pre Czech republic) Prague Spring with his record collection held dear to his heart. The play notes are very specific about which songs should be played at which time and which moment of the song, making me think that the product
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Mar 07, 2011
Chuck
rated it:
I need to see this live. I often can be moved by plays as read but Stoppard's characters have a tendency to live within ideology which keeps them from being people I can connect with. The theatricality of using rock and roll to move the story through the political periodicity of the Czech revolution is clever but has no impact simply described on the page. I think I'd like this as a show but as a read I don't find the characters struggle emotional enough to carry me through the story.
Feb 18, 2010
Mike
rated it:
A bit of a let down after the masterpiece trilogy THE COAST OF UTOPIA, but story of the fall of Communism in the Chech republic is still great. Rock 'n Roll as a metaphor for rebellion against even such a repressive regime works very well, and is historically accurate. Most of the music is great too, though the Chech band is pretty terrible. See this play if you can find a good production, and read it if you can't.
Nov 07, 2011
James
rated it:
Halfway through, I remembered why Stoppard bothers me: his protagonists generally embody all the same traits that make Hamlet so infuriating. That is, they're all talk and no action.
Otherwise, the remaining characters are interesting and I wish the play had been about the lot of them, excising Jan altogether.
Good quote: “You think human nature is a beast, that it must be put in a cage. But it's the cage that makes the animal bad.”
Otherwise, the remaining characters are interesting and I wish the play had been about the lot of them, excising Jan altogether.
Good quote: “You think human nature is a beast, that it must be put in a cage. But it's the cage that makes the animal bad.”
Jun 24, 2009
Maura
rated it:
Some Stoppard plays I need to see rather than just read to truly get. This is one of them. :) I'm pretty sure I would quite enjoy a production of it, but right now I really don't feel like it clicked for me.
Feb 05, 2009
Sharon
rated it:
Sometimes Stoppard tries too hard and gets lost in the many ideas that swirl around in that brilliant mind of his. The concept for this play was intersting, but the execution could have been better.
Jul 18, 2009
Aletvin
rated it:
This should have been terrific, with its focus on the resistance of the dissidents in communist Czechoslovakia and the role of rock 'n' roll in the youth rebellion of the 60s and 70s. It's witty and smart, and Stoppard's clearly passionate about the subject (his own family were refugees from C.), but it ends up feeling awfully didactic. I found it hard to sympathize with Max, a British academic/armchair communist, and found the human relationships oddly bloodless. But it was fun looking up clips
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Aug 14, 2008
Tom
rated it:
I'm tempted to dismiss this as pure excruciating drivel, but I can only judge it by the NYC production, which was one of the most boring things I've ever had to sit through in my life.
Trevor Nunn worked his own special brand of evil on this play, drawing out about 45 minutes worth of plot into over three hours of talk talk talk and then more talk, with extended blackouts so that the turntable set could be moved about thirty degrees, while the audience got to sit in near total darkne More...
Trevor Nunn worked his own special brand of evil on this play, drawing out about 45 minutes worth of plot into over three hours of talk talk talk and then more talk, with extended blackouts so that the turntable set could be moved about thirty degrees, while the audience got to sit in near total darkne More...
Sep 20, 2011
Mic
rated it:
This play was IMPOSSIBLE for me to follow. I need to brush up on my history...or Stoppard needs to stop being a dick.
Nov 29, 2008
Scott
rated it:
Read this after having seen the play performed at A.C.T. in San Francisco. I enjoyed both the performance and the written work, but (vague) knowledge of the history of Czechoslovakia at the end of the Cold War helps in understanding the material.
Mar 21, 2010
notgettingenough
rated it:
Watching Cahoot's Macbeth has made me think about this play again.
I went to see it in a negative frame of mind. Fictional adaptation of history is what happens when writers run out of ideas. Not so, not so. This is such a good play. It imparts something that is important for people in soft societies to understand. Popular culture in a place like Czechoslovakia in the 1960s was really important. It was integral to politics.It changed lives. People fought for it and died for it.
I went to see it in a negative frame of mind. Fictional adaptation of history is what happens when writers run out of ideas. Not so, not so. This is such a good play. It imparts something that is important for people in soft societies to understand. Popular culture in a place like Czechoslovakia in the 1960s was really important. It was integral to politics.It changed lives. People fought for it and died for it.
Apr 26, 2008
Elizabeth
rated it:
This is much better on the stage than on the page. I will never not love Alice, but the relationships are *hard* to parse in text (or maybe that's just me; an actor or director would likely get a little more from it), and the politics do not come across well. I don't know if this is one of Stoppard's better works, or if it's just more technically adept than much of his previous work, or what. (Also, Plastic People of Universe, as a band, *suck*.)
Sep 05, 2008
Dev
rated it:
I just read the play. Fan as I am of Stoppard, his plays, read are difficult to follow. Perhaps, also I am getting more and more distanced from the rhythm of English English. It is a rich play, works on many levels: end of communism, pink floyd and syd barrett, intellectuals and non; strategies of resistance. I found the text a little obscure at times.
Jun 27, 2008
Morgan
rated it:
Theater at its best, burning with intellect and humanity. I've previously found Stoppard to be too cerebral, too clever; this play has forced me to reconsider both the playwright and his body of work. Spanning the Prague Spring in 1968 to the fall of the Berlin Wall, this play deals with love, political disillusionment, and freedom.
Aug 16, 2008
Susan
rated it:
Saw it in London, loved it, absolutely had to read it. The staging blew me away. Reading it helped me think more deeply about its themes. It explores the relationship between music, though it could be any artistic expression of the people, to The State which wishes to control them. Hard to sum up, but a really exciting work.
Oct 17, 2008
Lois
rated it:
My favorite playwright, but I always need to read him too, or I miss too much. This takes place between 1968 and 1990 in Cambridge and Prague and deals with Marxism, the Czech revolution, cancer, consciousness, music, family and love, written with his usual wit and style. Lots of ideas to think about.
