Late Pink Floyd star Syd Barrett is to be the subject of a play by Scottish author and playwright Alan Bissett.
Bissett has been commissioned by the Scottish Mental Health Arts And Film Festival to write the play about Barrett, who left Floyd in 1968 and died in 2006 of pancreatic cancer.
His play, called One Thinks Of It All As A Dream, will run at this year’s event which is held from October 10 to 31. It’ll premiere at Glasgow’s Oran Mor in October, before touring to the Traverse in Edinburgh and the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen.
Bissett tells the Herald: “At the centre of it is a man in pain. Syd Barrett is unique in rock’n’roll history, and certainly haunted Pink Floyd’s music after he left.
“There’s no figure quite like him - which is itself attractive to a dramatist - but I also wanted to explore his multi-faceted character. He was by turns charismatic, selfish, principled and vulnerable.
“The legend of ‘Mad Syd’ has been enshrined in rock lore, but I wanted to get past the acid-casualty cliches to try and find the man beneath, in all his complexity.”
Bissett adds that the four-person play could contain live music or Floyd recordings, but won’t be a rock musical.
Last year it was revealed that Barrett will be honoured with a public artwork at the Cambridge venue where he played his last ever live shows.
