Coronavirus Lockdown Day Thirteen – Flanagan and Andrex


Underneath the atlas - which I found yesterday upon the beach, I discovered a sodden Tom Stoppard script dating from 1977 or thereabouts. I have no idea how or even why it turned up on this distant shore.
Signed by none other than Andre Previn it bears the inscription: ‘To Tom and thank you for the lovely wirds. Hope you liked my wee tunes - your pal Andre xx.'The script of course is long and quite tortuous. In fact, it bears a date-stamp from another age and if truth be told there are lines which even Stoppard might now cringe at. But no matter, even BBC Garnet was eventually made to eat his own words.

But back to 1977. The script concerns a Soviet dissident, Alexander Ivanov, who is imprisoned in a mental hospital from which he will not be released until he admits that his statements against the government were caused by a non-existent mental disorder. It’s the ultimate in denial and he shares a cell with a genuinely disturbed schizophrenic also called Ivanov, who believes himself to have a complete symphony orchestra in his front room. Alexander receives visits from a man known as The Doctor and from a difficult KGB Colonel.

His son, Sacha, joins forces with a teacher who attempts to convince him of the genuineness of his father's illness. In reality of course, none of this matters much for those of us stranded on a desert island.

It’s all relative and of course, unless I am very much mistaken, every good boy deserves favour.

In the far distance however, I can just make out a song beloved by my old dad. And here it is. Just click on the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggk8g_p-Thg

Ah! Joy … 

Duncan Harley is a writer and extreme blogger living in the Garioch. His books are available from Amazon. Just search for Duncan Harley in the Amazon search box. Signed copies are available @ Inverurie Whisky Shop.

Location: Inverurie AB51, UK

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