This summer BBC Radio will air “Dark Side,” a new radio drama by Tom Stoppard (pictured) inspired by Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
Scheduled to air in August, the production will star Bill Nighy (“Love Actually”) and Rufus Sewell (“Dark City”).
The network describes the production as “a fantastical and psychedelic story based on themes from the seminal album.”
Stoppard is a noted playwright and screenwriter whose first major success was “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” in 1966. He also wrote “Shakespeare in Love,” “Arcadia” and “The Real Thing.” His play “Rock ‘n Roll” drew inspiration from the life of Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett.
Tom Stoppard is probably one of my all-time favorite playwrights. I was in a college production of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” and I remember being mesmerized and laughing out loud when watching the movie version with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth (BEFORE they became big names!).
To hear that he has now written something based on my MOST FAVORITE, ABSOLUTE #1 band of ALL TIME, the Floyd… man, I am ecstatic!!
However, being in the U.S., I’m not sure I’ll be able to catch this awesome event. Any idea if there is an easy way for someone in the U.S. to either hear it and/or eventually get a copy of it after it’s been performed?
No word on whether or not copies will be available for sale afterward, but I believe BBC Radio does a lot of streaming, and offers stuff on-demand online.