PeterRS Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago Remember Shakespeare in Love, a movie full of wonderfully dazzling wit and charm? Its writer, Sir Tom Stoppard sadly died yesterday aged 88. I can recall seeing his very first play Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, an amazingly brilliant concept of what goes on offstage during a performance of Hamlet. It has one near iconic line, "Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else." He had first tried his hand at journalism and then theatre criticism before turning to writing. His body of work for film, TV and radio was hugely impressive. He won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, as well as five Tony Awards in the USA and three Olivier Award in the UK. Other screenplays included John Le Carre's The Russia House and Terry Gilliam's Brazil. He also assisted other writers of screenplays by adding sparkle to their scripts, often without acknowledgement. These included Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the Star Wars episode Revenge of the Sith. Steven Spielberg even consulted him on Schindler's List. His writing was witty and playful, he took ideas seriously and delighted in philsophical and political argument. Among those who mourn his passing is Sir Mick Jagger who wrote on X hat he was "a giant of the theatre. He leaves us with a majestic body of intellectual and amusing work. I will always miss him." Lyricist Sir Tim Rice wrote he "is in awe of nearly everything" Sir Tom did, adding "He's written at least half a dozen, probably twice that, plays that will live for a long, long time – however brilliant plays are, a lot of them don't last long beyond their era, but I think Tom Stoppard's will, no question." The National Theatre called his contribution to British Theatre "simply immense". Born in Czechosolvakia, he was Jewish and fled to the uK after the Nazi invasion. All four of his grandparents died in the holocaust. London's West End Theatres will dim their lights for two minutes at 7:00pm on December 2 as a mark of respect. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74xe49q7vlo Quote
