Plastic People, of Stoppard's 'Roll', Rock at Joe's Pub 9/27

The Plastic People of the Universe, the Czechoslovakian rock group whose 1976 imprisonment figures prominently in the plot of Tom Stoppard's upcoming Rock 'n' Roll on Broadway, will perform Thursday, September 27 at 9:30PM at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater (425 Lafayette Street, between East 4th Street and Astor Place).

Tickets ($25 in advance, $30 at door) are available at The Public Theater box office or by phone at 212-967-7555, or online at www.joespub.com.

Press notes explain: The Plastic People of the Universe are best known for their crucial role in the political history of the 'Eastern Bloc.' The band formed in 1968 as Russian tanks rolled into Prague.  Though the band was not overtly political, their radical improvised music and the culture which formed around them soon attracted the attention of the Communist State. Harassed, intimidated, and finally imprisoned, the band continued to persevere with their artistic vision. In 1976, when several members were arrested again, their trial became a lightning-rod for discontent throughout Czechoslovakia. The trial catalyzed the formation of a group of artists, students, musicians, and intellectuals, who joined together to draft Charter 77. Over the coming year, as the organization (and its leader, the dissident playwright Vaclav Havel) grew in international visibility, the Plastic People became a symbol for the dissident underground throughout the 'Eastern Bloc.' But twelve years later, when the movement the Plastic People inspired reached a crescendo with the Velvet Revolution (named in part because of the Plastics' reverence for the Velvet Underground), the Plastic People had been hounded out of existence.

It was not until the end of 1997 that the band reformed at Havel's request for a handful of legendary concerts in Prague. On the strength of these concerts, the band went to perform in New York in the summer of 1998, and again with a tour in the US and Canada in the spring of 1999.  

Interest in the band was once again rekindled in 2006 thanks to Rock 'n' Roll, in which two of their recordings are featured. The characters in Rock 'n' Roll also discuss at length the music of the Plastics and its effects on Czech society.  Following the success of Stoppard's play at the Royal Court and on the West End, The Plastics performed in London for the first time in January 2007.

Rock 'n' Roll opens on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th Street) on November 4, 2007.   Previews will begin on October 19, 2007.

Directed by Trevor Nunn, members of the original London company, including Brian Cox, Sinéad Cusack and Rufus Sewell (winner of the Olivier, London Evening Standard and London Critics' Circle Awards for his performance), along with Nicole Ansari and Alice Eve, will appear in the Broadway production of Rock 'n' Roll.

Tickets to Rock 'n' Roll are available by calling Telecharge at 212-239-6200, online at www.telecharge.com or in person at the Jacobs Theatre box office beginning October 1. For more information visit www.rocknrolltheplay.com