Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead By Tom Stoppard Helen Wood

Sneak Peek… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EwS_JU8Eng

Synopsis Set in the context of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Hamlet’s childhood friends set upon him by Claudius and Gertrude. Stoppard’s Play focuses on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who retell and contemplate their perspective and experience of events of Hamlet. Excerpts of Shakespeare’s text are used but the language switches from Shakespearian to modern language. Neither Rosencrantz or Guildenstern know exactly why they are there or what their purpose is. The tasks they are given overwhelm them, resulting in them constantly asking questions about life, empiricism, and death. The duo witness the dress rehearsal of ‘The Murder of Gonzago’ by The Player and his troupe, becoming more confused about their situation. As the story of Hamlet develops, the duo find themselves on a boat with Hamlet and a letter bound for England. The letter contains Hamlet’s death sentence. Hamlet discovers this and switches it for another executing them both. The boat is attacked by pirates and in the skirmish the duo loose Hamlet but discover the switched letter. They resign themselves mournfully to their fate and the play ends with Horatio’s final speech, which includes the play’s title line, to bring the curtain down.

Context – Tom Stoppard Born in July 1937 – Born in Czechoslovakia - WWII Greatly effected life – fled to Singapore in 1939, then fled to India, Father died on the way to being reunited with them. After War – Mother remarried to British Kenneth Stoppard – Tom only 8 years old when came to England – but fully emerged himself into English culture – ceased to speak Czech Didn’t go into university – 17 years left school – Journalist, reviewing plays etc. for papers, Western Daily Press and Bristol Evening World. 1962 – became a theatre critic for Scene magazine in London. Also started writing plays for TV and Radio Wrote most famous play when he was 26 then an aspiring screenwriter and playwright His Agent saw a production of Hamlet at the National – Agent, in a taxi with Stoppard, made a joke about Stoppard writing about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – Idea would be amusing – Stoppard pursued this Still writing and actively involved with the productions of his work at the age of 79

The Play’s History Draft Version of one act play, ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet King Lear’, written in 1964 1966 - Stoppard wrote and expanded into three acts which became the final version we use today. First Premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966 First World premiere Performance at The Old Vic, 1967, and then moved to its home at The National Theatre in April 1967 Debut on Broadway - 1968 Stoppard’s most famous play – Won Evening Standard’s Award for Most Promising Playwright and Best Play in 1967 – Won a Tony Award for Best Play in 1968

Billington – On Stoppard and Post War Drama “English post-war drama had a resistance to intellectual concepts: you started with character, whereas Stoppard starts with an idea…….delighting in language and the illusions of theatre”

Main Characters Rosencrantz – Childhood friend to Hamlet – more confused of the two, easily entertained and pleased, i.e. flipping coins – takes things face on and tries to cheer Guildenstern up by playing easy bets – but still is terrified at the though of his own morality - Sensitive Guildenstern – Childhood friend to Hamlet – Questions life a lot – More philosophical of the two – More anxious and desperately wants to understand their situation and tries to reason – Can cause sudden bursts of anger, i.e. Act III with The Player - But still able to show compassion and understanding, values Rosencrantz more than he lets on. The Player – Leader of the band of Travelling Players, asked by Hamlet to deliver the reworded speech at ‘The Murder of Gonzago’ – An ambiguous figure – Wise and Witty – Teases the duo as seems to have an air of mastery over their experiences i.e. anticipating their deaths – Shady, would happily sell or gamble his troupe’s bodies (the unwinnable bet) – A ringmaster.

Main Themes Question of Life and Death The Incomprehensibility of the World – Chances, Gambling, Luck vs Reason and Logic The Difficulty of Making Meaningful Choices Relationship Between Reality and The Stage Identity – Who are they? Every man? Word Play – Ordering and Confusion of Words

Critical Thought – Normand Berlin “In the act of seeing a stage play, which moves in time, we are in a pre- critical state, fully and actively engaged in the play's events. When the play is over, then we become critics, seeing the play as a structural unity and, in fact, able to function as critics only because the play has stopped moving. In the act of seeing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, however, our critical faculty is not subdued. We are always observing the characters and are not ourselves participating. We know the results of the action because we know Hamlet, so that all our references are backward. Not witnessing a movement in time, we are forced to contemplate the frozen state, the status- quo, of the characters who carry their Shakespearean fates with them. It is during Stoppard's play that we function as critics, just as Stoppard, through his characters, functions as critic within the play. It is precisely this critical stance of Stoppard, of his characters, and of his audience that allows me to attach the label "theater of criticism" to the play, thereby specifying what I believe to be Stoppard's distinctiveness as a modern dramatist.”

Folger Theatre Production Original 1967 Production Folger Theatre Production

NIU Production

Current Production 2017 – 50th Anniversary Production Staring – Daniel Radcliffe as Rosencrantz and Joshua McGuire as Guildenstern – With David Haig as The Player National Theatre Production performed at the Old Vic Outstanding Reviews – 4 Stars

Extracts Extract p.33-36 – Act1 Extract p.50-51 – Act 2 - Clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t5UTLkfoUs 50 Years of the National Theatre Anniversary Extract Performance 2013 Benedict Cumberbatch as Rosencrantz Kobna Hold Brook-Smith as Guildenstern Extract p.91-93 – Act 3

Bibliography Berlin, Normand, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Theatre of Criticism, Modern Drama, Volume 16, Number 3-4, University of Toronto, 1973, http://0-muse.jhu.edu.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/article/496512/pdf, p.271 Independent Article - March 2017- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts- entertainment/theatre-dance/features/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-tom- stoppard-play-daniel-radcliffe-old-vic-national-theatre-a7627611.html Guardian Review Articles – March 2017 https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/mar/08/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-are- dead-review-daniel-radcliffe-stoppard-old-vic-london https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/mar/12/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-are- dead-review-daniel-radcliffe-great-double-act Billington Quote – Guardian Article – September 2008 - https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2008/sep/06/stoppard.theatre