Thom Yorke makes Broadway debut

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke will make his Broadway debut as a composer for a new take on a Harold Pinter play, a theater announced Wednesday.

Yorke has written the score for a production of "Old Times" which will star fellow Briton Clive Owen, the Roundabout Theatre Company said.

The 1971 play is a relatively obscure work by Pinter, one of a number in which the Nobel laureate explores the nature of memory.

"I've enjoyed exploring through music the script's themes of love and memory as well as Pinter's rhythms, twists and turns," Yorke said in a statement.

Yorke, known for his distinctive falsetto voice, has a penchant for experimentation and for announcing projects at short notice, amid uncertainty on when Radiohead will release new work.

Last year, York released an electronic solo album, "Tomorrow's Modern Boxes," with no prior warning over BitTorrent, a file-sharing platform more commonly associated with illegal downloads.

"The music Thom has written for 'Old Times' gives an immediacy and a 'now-ness' to the show," said director Douglas Hodge, who is known for his interpretations of Pinter.

"In true Thom Yorke‐style, the music is epic, heartbreaking, irresistible and complex," Hodge said.

The production, which opens at the New York theater on September 17, also features two English actresses, Eve Best and Kelly Reilly.

Yorke's bandmate Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead's lead guitarist, is known for his soundtracks to films including cinematic versions of novels "Inherent Vice" by Thomas Pynchon and "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami.
Source: AFP