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| Stoppard play marks 40 years since Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon | Stoppard play marks 40 years since Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| It stayed in the charts for 741 weeks and became one of the bestselling albums of all time. Now Sir Tom Stoppard is marking the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon with a play on BBC Radio 2 featuring Bill Nighy and Rufus Sewell. | |
| The hour-long "fantastical and psychedelic story" will feature music from the album including prog rock classics such as Money, Time and The Great Gig in the Sky. | |
| Stoppard, who first thought of writing a play about the album at the suggestion of a friend when it was released in 1973, said: "This is more or less, I think, the first time anything like this has been done on radio." | |
| When decades later he was approached by the BBC, he said: "[I thought:] 'Yes, I definitely want to do that,' but had no idea for a long time what I would do. | |
| "Finally, I found some time and sat down and listened to the album for the thousandth time and picked up from the beginning and kept going." | "Finally, I found some time and sat down and listened to the album for the thousandth time and picked up from the beginning and kept going." |
| The play, called Dark Side, was described by Radio 2's head of music, Jeff Smith, as a "dramatic examination of themes including conflict, greed and madness". | The play, called Dark Side, was described by Radio 2's head of music, Jeff Smith, as a "dramatic examination of themes including conflict, greed and madness". |
| The project has the blessing of Pink Floyd's frontman, David Gilmour, who said he had read the script and found it fascinating. | |
| Stoppard, whose plays include Arcadia and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, is a long-time Pink Floyd fan. His 2006 play Rock'n'Roll, which also starred Sewell, featured haunting allusions to the band's founder, the late Syd Barrett, and was described by one critic as a "deeply moving memorial to the great lost leader of British pop". | |
| The lead roles in Dark Side will be taken by Iwan Rheon, best known for his portrayal of Simon Bellamy in E4's Misfits, and stage actor Amaka Okafor, with contributions from Nighy, Sewell and Adrian Scarborough. | |
| The broadcaster and pop historian Paul Gambaccini said: "It is a concept album in mood and attitude, if not in plot. I know his [Stoppard's] interest in rock is truly deep and there is truly nobody better in the world to do this." | The broadcaster and pop historian Paul Gambaccini said: "It is a concept album in mood and attitude, if not in plot. I know his [Stoppard's] interest in rock is truly deep and there is truly nobody better in the world to do this." |
| Stoppard's most recent BBC work was his acclaimed adaptation of Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End for BBC2, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall. | Stoppard's most recent BBC work was his acclaimed adaptation of Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End for BBC2, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall. |
| In 1982 another of his plays, The Real Thing, featured a playwright agonising over his choices for a forthcoming appearance on Desert Island Discs, although Stoppard opted not to choose a Pink Floyd song when he appeared on the Radio 4 programme three years later. | In 1982 another of his plays, The Real Thing, featured a playwright agonising over his choices for a forthcoming appearance on Desert Island Discs, although Stoppard opted not to choose a Pink Floyd song when he appeared on the Radio 4 programme three years later. |
| The writer and critic Andrew Collins said Dark Side of the Moon lent itself to adaptation for radio. "It is already a bit like a radio play, with the almost naff sound effects of the cash register in the introduction to Money, and Time starts with a load of clocks and alarms going off," he said. | The writer and critic Andrew Collins said Dark Side of the Moon lent itself to adaptation for radio. "It is already a bit like a radio play, with the almost naff sound effects of the cash register in the introduction to Money, and Time starts with a load of clocks and alarms going off," he said. |
| "Mick Jagger's production company produced the film version of Enigma, which Tom Stoppard adapted. You don't think of him as a hepcat but he has his links with the rock world." | "Mick Jagger's production company produced the film version of Enigma, which Tom Stoppard adapted. You don't think of him as a hepcat but he has his links with the rock world." |
| Another Pink Floyd album, The Wall, was made into a film featuring a mixture of live action and animation, directed by Alan Parker in 1982. | Another Pink Floyd album, The Wall, was made into a film featuring a mixture of live action and animation, directed by Alan Parker in 1982. |
| Dark Side will air on Radio 2 on the August bank holiday weekend. | Dark Side will air on Radio 2 on the August bank holiday weekend. |
| Great gig on the air | |
| Rosencrantz Heads. I've always been mad, I know I've been mad ... | |
| Guildenstern There is an art to the building up of suspense ... | |
| Rosencrantz Heads. Very hard to explain why you're mad, even if you're not mad ... | |
| The Player Uncertainty is the normal state. You are nothing special. | |
| Rosencrantz Aren't you going to change into your costume? | |
| The Player I never change out of it, sir. Run, rabbit run. Dig that hole, forget the sun. | |
| Guildenstern Tails. Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day. | |
| Rosencrantz I win again. Waiting for someone or something to show you the way. | |
| Guildenstern We could create a dramatic precedent here. Come, come. This is no way to fill the theatres of Europe ... | |
| The Player Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way. We're more of the blood, love and rhetoric school. | |
| Hamlet And I am not afraid of dying. Any time will do. I don't mind. | |
| Ophelia If you can hear this whispering you are dying. | |
| Claudius Money. | |
| Hamlet Get away. | |
| Claudius Don't give me that goody, good bullshit. | |
| Rosencrantz Us. | |
| Guildenstern And them. | |
| Rosencrantz Me. | |
| Guildenstern And you. | |
| Hamlet Pray, my lords. Which of you is me and which is you? | |
| Rosencrantz Does it matter? | |
| Hamlet Perchance to Claudius. | |
| Guildenstern It's all questions. | |
| Rosencrantz The lunatic is on the grass. | |
| Guildenstern The lunatic is in the hall. | |
| Hamlet The lunatic is in my head. | |
| Rosencrantz The cloud bursts. Thunder in my ear. | |
| Guildenstern Where? | |
| Rosencrantz It's all right. I'm demonstrating the misuse of free speech. | |
| Hamlet And you, Guildenstern... | |
| Rosencrantz Rosencrantz... | |
| Hamlet Must be dead... | |
| Guildenstern How so? Audiences know what to expect ... | |
| Hamlet In which case it must be I who is dead. I'll see you on the dark side of the moon. | |
| The Player To sum up. Hamlet is dead, along with everyone else. Except those who are still alive. All that is now. All that is gone. All is to come... | |
| Rosencrantz I've never really been mad. | |
| Guildenstern Tails. There is no dark side of the moon. | |
| John Crace |