Dark Side - Tom Stoppard radio play

[anyother]

Already looking forward to hearing this one - sounds very interesting!

[lassie]

I'm not a really a pink floyd fan, but am looking forward to hearing the play in the summer - after all a girl can change her mind! The cast is great and Tom Stoppard is so very talented.

I would have never thought of listening to a radio play about Pink Floyd - the things Rufus makes you do ;D

[anyother]

Mar 31, 2013 20:36:17 GMT lassie said:

I would have never thought of listening to a radio play about Pink Floyd - the things Rufus makes you do ;D

I can relate to that...he already made me watch a vampire movie, a film like Dirty Weekend - to name some. I'm sure that wouldn't have happened without him. And he made me re-read The Woodlanders, ha ha.

[ginny]

I recently had a look again at this post and noticed something: what are those red, green and blue stripes at the location of - dare I say it?- Rufus's bum? An unfortunately placed BBC watermark? Enlarging it doesn't make it clearer, but I'd say it wasn't part of the jeans. Wool? A closet sock-knitter between takes?

[Laila]

Cables on the floor?

[adina]

Darkside, Radio 2, Bank Holiday Monday August 26, 10pm

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/sir-tom-stoppard-reinvents-pink-floyds-dark-side-of-the-moon-as-a-philosophical-mashup-for-new-bbc-radio-2-play-8748792.html

"Tracks from the album, including 'Money', 'Breathe' and 'Brain Damage', are woven into an hour-long play, featuring Bill Nighy and Rufus Sewell, which draws out the band’s themes of greed, corruption and mental disintegration.
The Independent was invited to join Nick Mason, Pink Floyd’s drummer, at a BBC “happening”, where guests, including Sir Peter Bazalgette, the Arts Council England chairman, donned headphones to allow listeners to fully immerse themselves in the play, which was accompanied by an appropriately “trippy” light show.
Darkside, a return to the absurdism and debates over moral absolutes of Stoppard’s plays such as Jumpers and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, proves to be a dazzling match of high philosophy and Floyd’s own angst-ridden, existential questioning.

A challenge to listeners more familiar with Radio 2 fare such as The Organist Entertains, Darkside follows philosophy student Emily as she encounters a series of “thought experiments” which incorporate debates over utilitarian consequentialism, Kant’s conception of reason and mankind’s inability to spell Nietzsche correctly – all underpinned by Floyd’s mournful, atmospheric soundscapes.
'Money' is accompanied by a satirical balloon debate over which should claim the last parachute between a politician and a banker.
A character called the Fat Man declares “the Green Belt is a success – and we’re going to build on it”, a line initially mangled by John Prescott.
Stoppard, whose 2006 play Rock ‘n’ Roll referenced the late Syd Barrett, also reflects on the mental collapse of Floyd’s lost founder.
As the album reaches its melancholy climax with the songs 'Brain Damage' and 'Eclipse', Emily’s search for an answer to the question “what is the good?” leads to her own mental breakdown."

"Mason was delighted. “I love it,” he said. “But I'm tempted to text Tom and tell him it’s really great - but there was a lot of actors talking over the music.”"

Okay, let's use our abstract side!

[Laila]

Thanks Adina! Will it be available also for people outside UK?

[nell]

Thanks for the information Adina

Laila - it should be available on BBC i-player which has been accessed by some of our overseas RT members in the past. I'm not sure if you need expat shield to watch it though. He's a link to i-player. You could try it now and see if it works. I seem to recall I couldn't listen to something from Italy when I tried.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/radio

Perhaps some of the ladies outside the UK can advise if you can't access this link.

[Laila]

Usually for video I need Expat. I have tried some radio programmes and I can hear the sound. Let's wait and see. Thanks!

[GreenEyesToo]

Oh, lovely - thanks for that, Adina. (I'm sure we won't mind Rufus talking over the music! )

[walt]

Thanks a lot, Adina!   

<...rushes off to make a note in the calendar..>

[kissmekate]

Laila, from my experience, listening to BBC radio should work without Expat Shield.

There is also a tool called Radio Downloader which enables you to, well, download BBC radio programmes.

This sounds intriguing, Adina! Nice that "The Organist Entertains" gets a mention. I love that!

[kygal]

Thanks!

[anyother]

Aug 6, 2013 22:52:27 GMT GreenEyesToo said:

Oh, lovely - thanks for that, Adina. (I'm sure we won't mind Rufus talking over the music! )

Of course not!

Something to look forward to - excellent news, thanks Adina!

[rueful]

Thanks for the info, Adina! Looks like we will have to do some serious thinking while we listen to this one.... or maybe just drift off to the sound of the voice and not concentrate on the meaning at all.

Darkside follows philosophy student Emily as she encounters a series of “thought experiments” which incorporate debates over utilitarian consequentialism, Kant’s conception of reason and mankind’s inability to spell Nietzsche correctly...

LOL!  Sounds like the play will have some of Sir Tom's trademark humor.