ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD
‘To Be or Not To Be?’ It’s a question that haunts Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The conceit in Tom Stoppard’s great play is that R & G who are minor characters from Hamlet take centre stage as they have come to Elsinore to work out what is happening to the young prince’s mind though not at all sure of their own sanity. Here Shakespeare’s great tragedy becomes the sub-plot as the powerless pair try to come to terms with events over which they have no control (why would they – they are minor characters after all). Stoppard’s absurdist tragi-comedy drama was first seen in 1966 but it still has a freshness, vigour – a young man’s work with astonishing verbal dexterity, darkly comic wit and a deadly serious investigation on the nature of death.
It is a long play packed with rapid-fire exchanges, daring puns and existential questions. That is a very tough call for a community theatre ensemble. Happily the bonding of Cambridge’s estimable Corkscrew Theatre and the local AmDram company Bawds pulled off the awesome challenge in fine style.
The play stands or falls on its eponymous characters dominating the stage for most of the 140-minute running time. Happily, both Will Males as Rosencrantz and Dan Aspel playing Guildenstern brought pace and deeply felt character to their parts. Males brought out R’s wide-eyed innocence and charmingly genial manner in convincing style. His verbal sparring with the gloomier G was a delight. There was a fascinating contrast between him and Aspel’s more philosophical G. Both actors put in mesmerising performances providing a deeply unsettling substrata beneath the torrent of surface wit. They reminded me of the two tramps in Waiting for Godot – trapped in a world not of their making, increasingly aware that someone out there is pulling the strings. That the only certainty is death. Or is it?
R & G don’t have it all their own way. David John had a starring role as The Player, the verbose and slightly bizarre impresario of a troupe of oddities – slightly menacing clown-like tragedians who take the action further into the surreal. Each played their dumb-show part with confident panache and knockabout humour. There was much finely choreographed comic business and some impressive disappearing tricks.
The direction by Lesley Ford and David Sear was pacey without being rushed, and satisfyingly respectful of Stoppard’s volcanic use of language. The programme notes show that both are in love with the play and that comes out in the meticulous attention to detail – from simple but totally suitable Tudor-style costume to the nicely lit arched set which meant exeunts could happen at speed.
The play begins with R & G playing a game of heads and tails. As their fate is being decided by others (not least the playwright) the outcome is always the same – heads. The play manages to be hilarious and deeply moving, posing questions about life and death, playing with words and pulling at the heartstrings. Is it to be the greatest British play of the last half century?…Ah that is the question!
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is being performed at the ADC Theatre until Saturday 1 October
