A.C.T. Extends 'Rock 'n' Roll' Through 10/18

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) announced the West Coast premiere proAmerican Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) announced the West Coast premiere production of Tom Stoppard’s Rock ’n’ Roll has been extended by popular demand through Saturday, October 18, 2008.  The extension week performances run Tuesday, October 14 through Saturday, October 18, at 8 p.m. with additional matinees on Wednesday, October 15 and Saturday, October 18, at 2 p.m.  A rapturous, decades-spanning tale of Prague’s rock revolution, Rock ’n’ Roll follows the passions and politics of a Marxist professor in Cambridge and his Rolling Stones–obsessed protégé fighting for freedom in Soviet–dominated Czechoslovakia.

The A.C.T and Huntington Theatre Company coproduction marks the first presentation of Stoppard’s play by an American company after the Broadway run of the London production that broke box office records and received four 2008 Tony Award nominations.  Rock ’n’ Roll blends Stoppard’s signature use of language and ideas with the raw energy of rock music to become his most personal work to date.  The New York Times’s Ben Brantley has called Rock ’n’ Roll “arguably Stoppard’s finest play,” commenting, “Stoppard treats the characters of Rock’ n’ Roll with a deep affection I’ve never encountered from him before.”  Tickets—starting at $17—are available by calling A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2228, or at www.act-sf.org.

Photo by Ashley Forrette