Stoppard reflects on Cold War Czechoslovakia [audio 30min]

Tom Stoppard's brilliant new play, Rock 'n' Roll, has transferred from the Royal Court Theatre to the Duke of York's Theatre in London. In a repeat of a rare interview with BBC journalist Mark Lawson, Stoppard reflects on the reasons that have prevented him from addressing the country of his birth -- Czechoslovakia -- until now, as well as his admiration for his contemporary and fellow Czech Vaclav Havel, and his own attitude to Britain today. Czechoslovakia takes centre-stage in Rock 'n' Roll, which covers the period from 1968's Russian invasion to 1990's so-called Velvet Revolution, which led to the playwright Vaclav Havel becoming the President of the Czech Republic. In the play, the rock 'n' roll band The Plastic People of the Universe comes to symbolise resistance to the Communist regime whilst, in Cambridge, the verities of love and death are shaping the lives of three generations in the family of a Marxist philosopher. And the late Syd Barrett, founder of Pink Floyd, appears now and then. [To play audio, click"Tom Stoppard" under the"Editor's Pick" header in the"Listen Again" box in the webpage's right frame.]