Rock 'n' Roll

by Joel Tannenbaum

THEATER

Jim Roese (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

For director Blanka Zizka, who came to the U.S. from then-Czechoslovakia as a political refugee in the 1970s, the story is all too familiar. Confined to working in underground theater collectives, and blacklisted from teaching dance for her refusal to join the Communist Party, Zizka faced a choice between a lifetime of menial jobs or life as a refugee. She chose the latter, and found her way to the then-fledgling Wilma.

Gone are the bad old days of the 1980s, when Stoppard's work was often co-opted by cultural conservatives in Britain and America because it was perceived as anti-Soviet. As a result, we get to enjoy Rock 'n' Roll for what it is: a clever, exuberant and often tragic exploration of the relationship between individuals and ideology. "How was it," says Zizka of the play's ending, "that language ends up being as misused in the capitalist system as it does in the communist system?"

Expect what you always get from Zizka productions of Stoppard at the Wilma — innovative stage design and emotional depth and nuance. And, true to its name, Rock 'n' Roll features a stage that rotates like an LP on a turntable.

Sept. 17-Oct. 26, $44-$68, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-546-7824, wilmatheater.org.