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One Thinks of It All as a Dream

‘I’m simply asking, Mr Waters, how do you know it’s Syd who has the problem?’ Read more …

London, 1967. Pink Floyd have just released their debut album, the psychedelic masterpiece Piper at the Gates of Dawn. But the behaviour of their frontman, Syd Barrett, has become increasingly erratic. Is he having a drug-induced breakdown? Or is he playing an elaborate joke on the band and the music industry?

Syd Barrett would’ve been seventy this year, had he not died in 2006.  This witty and poignant new play – specially commissioned for the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival – is both a vivid portrait of a revolutionary period in pop music and a character study of one of its most  enigmatic and complex figures.


The critical consensus

Syd Barrett story paints a familiar picture in 'feeling turquoise'.

***(*)(*)Lorna Irvine, The List, 20/10/2016

A brief but complete immersion in Sixties culture, with its sense of infinite possibility.

****(*)Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman, 24/10/2016

Director Sacha Kyle’s production taps in nicely to the ebbs and flows of Bissett’s script, which is at its strongest in the poetic monologues in which Barrett explains his thought processes.

Mark Brown, Scottish Stage, 24/10/2016

Even if the production never really takes flight, there is much here to appeal to die-hard fans, while newcomers will learn a great deal.

***(*)(*)Hugh Simpson, All Edinburgh Theatre, 25/10/2016

Bissett's play manages to neatly capture his sad demise amid reconstructed psychedelia, while casting a sympathetic eye over the vital issue of mental ill health.

****(*)Irene Brown, Edinburgh Guide, 25/10/2016

A creative fountain which couldn’t be capped, a musical flame that burnt too bright too fast, Pink Floyd’s original driving force Syd Barrett ought to have his story told in this affectionate, light-spirited and non-judgmental way, rather than being allowed to drift into history as “that oddball recluse wot used to be in the Floyd”.

****(*)Robert Peacock, TVBomb, 26/10/2016


Features about One Thinks of It All as a Dream

Preview: Alan Bissett's new play about Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett

Andrew Eaton-Lewis, The Scotsman, 11/10/2016

Where and when?

A Play, a Pie and a Pint, Glasgow from Monday October 17, 2016, until Saturday October 22, 2016. More info: http://playpiepint.com

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from Tuesday October 25, 2016, until Saturday October 29, 2016. More info: www.traverse.co.uk

Lemon Tree, Aberdeen from Tuesday November 1, 2016, until Saturday November 5, 2016. More info: www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

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