Indian Ink: A Play [Paperback]

Tom Stoppard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 1995

Flora Crewe, a young poet travelling in India in 1930, has her portrait painted by a local artist. More than fifty years later, the artist's son visits Flor'as sister in London while her would-be biographer is following a cold trail in India.

The alternation of place and period in Tom Stoppard's new play (based on his radio play In The Native State) makes for a rich and moving exploration of intimate lives set against one of the great shafts of history, the emergence of the Indian subcontinent from the grip of Europe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Simply let yourself go to be swirled up in Tom Stoppard's Indian Ink, a layered comedy about an English poet's artistic-erotic visit to India in 1930 and the attempt of others to come to terms with its legacy 55 years later."--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

About the Author

Tom Stoppard's other work includes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Tony Award), Jumpers, Travesties (Tony Award), Night and Day, After Margritte, The Real Thing (Tony Award), Enter a Free Man, Hapgood, Arcadia (Evening Standard Award, The Oliver Award and the Critics Award), Dalliance and Undiscovered Country, Indian Ink (a stage adaptation of his own play, In the Native State) and The Invention of Love.

His radio plays include The Dissolution of Dominic Boot, 'M' is for Moon Among Other Things, If You're Glad I'll Be Frank, Albert's Bridge (Italia Prize), Where Are They Now?, Artist Descending a Staircase, The Dog It Was That Died and In the Native State (Sony Award).

His work for television includes Professional Foul (Bafta Award, Broadcasting Press Guild Award). His film credits include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead which he also directed (winner of the Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival).

Product Details

• Paperback: 83 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber (August 17, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571175562
• ISBN-13: 978-0571175567
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tom Stoppard is the author of such seminal works as Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Travesties, Every Good Boy Deserves a Favor, Arcadia, Jumpers, The Real Thing, and The Invention of Love.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bitter-sweet tragi-comedy, July 7, 2000

By 

M. L. Arnautov "Mike Arnautov" (Bucks., UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Indian Ink: A Play (Paperback)

This play took me by surprise. Clever though it is, it has little in the way of Stoppard's usual intellectual fireworks. Instead it is an affectionate look at the love-hate relationship between Great Britain and India, as reflected and refracted through the eyes of individuals, both past and present.

The play once again uses the device of alternating past and present action, with the present characters attempting to comprehend the past -- but the effect is very different from that in "Arcadia", even though it brings in Stoppard's frequent theme of the nature of evidence. This time the intellectual enquiry plays a second fiddle to a more "soft focus" look at people in their historical contexts.

You probably need to know Brits quite well to fully appreciate the play's wry self-deprecations (not to mention its making gentle fun of American Academia), but it doesn't matter -- "Indian Ink" is rich enough to be rewarding on many levels.

4 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful - as good as Arcadia, March 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Indian Ink: A Play (Paperback)

Another erudite romance from Stoppard. The subject: Empire, and Indian independence. Impossible to put down.