Kyle Hadyniak

For The Maine Campus

While far from the orthodox music scene, British playwright Tom Stoppard’s radio dramatization of Pink Floyd’s 1973 “The Dark Side of the Moon” is a deeply thoughtful, intellectual telling of the classic album.

Billed as a celebration of the album’s 40th anniversary, “Darkside” accomplishes this in fine form. It may be too confusing for some, but those who power through this hour-long drama will find that “Darkside” is every bit as thoughtful, psychedelic and creative as Pink Floyd’s classic album.

“Darkside,” like the album, begins with the song “Breathe.” In this opening piece, Stoppard sets the morally-philosophical scene with a dilemma: a train is about to derail, so the figurative “Ethics Man” saves the passengers. Afterwards, a little boy is stuck on the tracks, but Ethics Man does not save him. The narrator then poses the question, “Did Ethics Man do the right thing?” The opening chords of “Breathe” then play to a chilling effect. So begins the hour-long morality-focused drama.

Appropriately, “The Dark Side of the Moon” is the perfect album to base such a theme on. Roger Waters’ lyrics deal with greed, mortality, humanity and conflict, and the script of “Darkside” reflects these timeless themes. Between the spoken segments of the play, voiced by Bill Nighy, Amaka Okafor and Peter Marinker, among others, Pink Floyd’s music plays as an accompaniment to the drama.

Most of David Gilmour’s solos are placed at vital moments in the script, creating a powerful musical interlude, and Roger Waters’ everlasting lyrics seemingly correspond to the drama. Overall, the two forces mesh well, and the story they tell is fascinating.

The actors themselves do an admirable job telling Stoppard’s story. Characters in “Darkside” symbolize different themes and stereotypes that mirror the album, and references to “The Wizard of Oz,” “Terminator 2,” “Casablanca” and “Spartacus” demonstrates the play’s referential, even comedic, aspects. Like Pink Floyd, Stoppard’s writing does an excellent job of holding a mirror up to certain themes and facets of humanity; “Darkside” certainly is an album one must pay close attention to.

Oddly, there are some original musical moments in “The Dark Side of the Moon” that take a backseat to the drama. Gilmour’s famous “Money” solo is overshadowed by the plot, an odd decision considering that other solos, such as those in “Time” and “The Great Gig in the Sky,” are front and center. However, considering that Stoppard received David Gilmour’s blessing to do this, this oddity is easily forgiven.

While the play itself is enjoyable throughout, there are particular stand-out moments. The intro to “Us and Them” is superimposed with one of the characters echoing “Sleep now” — a relaxing, somewhat chilling effect that fits perfectly with the song.

Likewise, the moments leading up to the vocal solo in “The Great Gig in the Sky” see a character pondering the idea of “thought games,” a mental representation of morality and humanity. This song’s sudden burst of vocal improvisation fits perfectly with this theme.

In the end, “Darkside” is an album wildly different than other modern albums. The radio play format may be uninteresting to some, opting instead for the straightforward musical nature of “The Dark Side of the Moon.” Therefore, those who listen to “Darkside” must know what to expect. This is not a reimagining of “The Dark Side of the Moon,” per se. The original music is still intact, merely accompanied by a stimulating, conceptually-similar script.

One must dedicate time and thought when listening to “Darkside” in order to fully understand Stoppard’s message. While this album certainly fits in with a niche crowd, the time and effort analyzing and enjoying “Darkside” is worth it.

Grade: A-