R.I.P. Tom Stoppard

sringwal

sringwal

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Probably the greatest playwright of the 20th century (with all due respect given to Arthur Miller). Wrote one of my top five pieces of literature, Arcadia, which - along with Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead - I taught for over a decade.

Rosencrantz: We might as well be dead. Do you think death could possibly be a boat?

Guildenstern: No, no, no... Death is...not. Death isn't. You take my meaning. Death is the ultimate negative. Not-being. You can't not-be on a boat.

Rosencrantz: I've frequently not been on boats.

Guildenstern: No, no, no--what you've been is not on boats
 
Lucky enough to see The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt on Broadway. Still bummed I didn’t see the original production of Coast of Utopia. Stoppard is a true immortal.
 
sringwal said:
www.bbc.com

Sir Tom Stoppard, playwright famed for his wit and depth, dies at 88

The King and Queen pay tribute to a "dear friend who wore his genius lightly".
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
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Thanks. One of my large life regrets is a lack of appreciation for the arts. I've tried to change it about myself, but it just isn't me. Theater, music, painting, sculpture...all lost on me completely. Whatever part of the brain that creates the ability to appreciate such things is just nonexistent for me.
 
wmheel1287 said:
Thanks. One of my large life regrets is a lack of appreciation for the arts. I've tried to change it about myself, but it just isn't me. Theater, music, painting, sculpture...all lost on me completely. Whatever part of the brain that creates the ability to appreciate such things is just nonexistent for me.
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I don't know if this will sell you, but many of his plays explore science and mathematics. If that is your bent, you may want to give Arcadia a try. Here's a little on the math of the play...


And a nice review:

Is Tom Stoppard's Arcadia the greatest play of our age?
 
I always liked the stuff Tom Stoppard wrote. It was all over my head. But sitting through one of his works was for me like a cat getting his ears scratched. I, like a cat, didn't really understand what's going on, but I greatly enjoyed it nonetheless. I always found his stuff interesting and engaging. All four of his grandparents died at Auschwitz. His family escaped to Singapore before the Nazis could catch them. After sending his wife and chidren to safety in Indian, his father had stayed behind in Singapore because he was a doctor and believed he would be needed when the Japanese attacked. His father was killed by the Japanese while trying to escape after Singapore had fallen. That sort of childhood is going to have an influence.
 
Oddly enough, my brother recently (like, this past week) mentioned his London trip with Kimball King and Gerald Unks in the early 80's, said they seen and later discussed a Stoppard play as part of the curriculum...
 
An immense talent of many decades, with so many great works. Beyond his brilliant plays like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, he was an important screenwriter, and one of three co-writers of Terry Gilliam's masterpiece Brazil.
 
an0maly said:
An immense talent of many decades, with so many great works. Beyond his brilliant plays like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, he was an important screenwriter, and one of three co-writers of Terry Gilliam's masterpiece Brazil.
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Yup. I have been introducing a brilliant friend of mine, who is not much of a movie buff, to some of the classics lately. Brazil is likely the next one we will watch (I was considering it before Stoppard passed away, but now it is a necessity).
 
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