Rock N’ Roll
Playwright: Tom Stoppard
Directed by: Milt Zoth
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Rock 'n' Roll is an electrifying collision of the romantic and the revolutionary. It is 1968 and the world is ablaze with rebellion, accompanied by a sound track of the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Clutching his prized collection of rock albums, Jan, a Cambridge graduate student, returns to his homeland of Czechoslovakia just as Soviet tanks roll into Prague. When security forces tighten their grip on artistic expression, Jan is inexorably drawn toward a dangerous act of dissent. Back in England, Jan's volcanic mentor, Max, faces a war of his own as his free-spirited daughter and his cancer-stricken wife attempt to break through his walls of academic and emotional obstinacy. Over the next twenty years of love, espionage, chance, and loss, the extraordinary lives of Jan and Max spin and intersect until an unexpected reunion forces them to see what is truly worth the fight.
A select performance of the Performing Arts Series at the Missouri History Museum. All performances at the Des Lee Auditorium, Missouri History Museum, Forest Park.
Reviews
it would be very difficult indeed to experience a production of this fine play that exhibited more warmth and carefully wrought performances than the one director Milt Zoth and a powerhouse cast have assembled for the St. Louis Actors' Studio.
Paul Friswold, Riverfront Times
Playwright Tom Stoppard, who was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937 but fled the country with his Jewish parents when Nazi Germany invaded in 1939, has written a complex and beguiling story about the two countries that shaped his own political and social philosophies. Premiered in London in 2006, Stoppard’s most recent play is given its local premiere in a handsome production mounted by St. Louis Actors’ Studio as part of its season of works sculpted around the theme of “Angels and Demons.”
Mark Bretz, Ladue News
Two of St. Louis' most engaging actors, Jerry Vogel and Charlie Barron, co-star in the St. Louis Actors' Studio's newest effort, "Rock 'n' Roll." Has either of them ever played a villain? Probably not — and director Milt Zoth takes full advantage of their charm.
