Add source Login
Tom Stoppard: a brilliant dramatist who always raised the temperature of the room

Tom Stoppard: a brilliant dramatist who always raised the temperature of the room

The self-described ‘bounced Czech’ created cerebral works centred by a core of genuine emotion – and always understood the ways of our world Tom Stoppard: a life in pictures Where to start with Tom Stoppard: from Brazil to Leopoldstadt All the best dramatists extend the frontiers of drama. Beckett and Pinter did it in their way. The achievement of Tom Stoppard was to take seemingly esoteric subjects – from chaos theory to moral philosophy and the mystery of consciousness – and turn them into witty, inventive and often moving dramas. Theatre, Laurence Olivier once said, is a great glamoriser of thought. Stoppard confirmed that with his capacity to make ideas dance. I was lucky enough to discover Stoppard early on. That was entirely thanks to Philip French who, aside from being a film critic, was also a BBC producer. In 1966 he asked me to give a short talk on two radio plays by a then little-known writer (“a punk journalist from Bristol” was how someone described him to me) called Tom Stoppard. In The Dissolution of Dominic Boot, an impoverished writer ran up an ever escalating escalating taxi fare. And in If You’re Glad, I’ll Be Frank, a bus driver tried to contact his wife who was the speaking clock. I was struck by the ingenuity of both plays and got to meet their young author. Continue reading...

Etzebeth red card mars South Africa demolition job as Wales slump to record home defeat

Etzebeth red card mars South Africa demolition job as Wales slump to record home defeat

Wales 0-73 South Africa Springboks score 11 tries but Etzebeth sent off for eye gouge Every bit as dispiriting as expected. Worse, was it pointless? Well, it certainly had more points to it than Wales would have liked. But, worse again, was it actively alienating? A record defeat, the first time in the professional era Wales have failed to score a point, 11 tries conceded. South Africa continue to demonstrate their superiority over every other nation. People are starting to compare them to the best sides we have ever seen. And they remain as brutal as ever, mostly legitimately, sometimes less so. They saw their third red card of the autumn, their third to a second row, but there was no arguing with this one. Eben Etzebeth, a full head taller than any of his opponents in the middle of a fracas two minutes from time, jabbed his thumb into the eye of Alex Mann. The least contentious red card of the autumn. Continue reading...