Thom Yorke to Compose Original Music for Broadway Play

Thom Yorke has scored original music for an upcoming Broadway play.

The Radiohead frontman’s music will appear in the Roundabout Theatre production, Old Times, which stars Clive Owen and Kelly Reilly as a married couple who are visited by a friend from their past, portrayed by Eve Best.

“What begins as a trip down memory lane quickly becomes something more,” the play’s description reads, “as long-simmering feelings of fear and jealousy begin to fuel the trio’s passions, sparking a seductive battle for power.”

In a statement, Yorke said his new compositions tackle the play’s plot and themes:

It’s been a pleasure working with Doug [Hodge, director] on my first stage production. I’ve enjoyed exploring through music the script’s themes of love and memory as well as [writer Harold] Pinter’s rhythms, twists and turns.

Hodge agreed that Yorke’s music picks up on the play’s elements of time and memory and described it as “epic, heartbreaking, irresistible and complex”:

The music Thom has written for ‘Old Times’ gives an immediacy and a “now-ness” to the show. The play itself is about memory and love -- Thom’s music works backwards and forwards and plays with time and repetition in the same way Pinter does. In true Thom Yorke-style, the music is epic, heartbreaking, irresistible and complex. I’m hopeful this collaboration will result in a new kind of theatergoer coming to our show.

Old Times will begin previews on Sept. 17 at the American Airlines Theatre before making its debut on Oct. 6. It’s set to run through Nov. 29.

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