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Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
By Tom Stoppard
Library Theatre, Manchester
Review by David Chadderton
(2007)
Artistic Director Chris Honer has revived the play that made Tom Stoppard
famous in the 1960s when he made the principal characters of Hamlet
into bit-parts and gave some of Shakespeare's smallest characters a
huge number of lines to learn.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is Stoppard's answer
to Waiting For Godot, as he puts together two people who are
just waiting around and shows them trying desperately to find things
to do and talk about to pass the time until the thing they are waiting
for happens; Pinter did a similar thing with The Dumb Waiter.
And so we sit and watch them play games, argue, mess about and talk
a lot about the nature of death and the futility of life as they wait
for their lives to be given a purpose when someone gives them instructions
of what to do.
All of this pessimistic existentialism could be very dull and depressing,
if it was not for Stoppard's great imagination, sparkling dialogue and
almost-too-clever wit and invention, tying the debate over the futility
of existence into the angst of one of the greatest-ever dramatic
characters. However this is complex, awkward dialogue that needs careful
delivery and timing for it to work at all.
This is never a worry in the Library's production, as the two title
characters are superb together. Graeme Hawley as Guildenstern (or Rosencrantz)
is the dominant one in the double act who keeps them on track, whereas
Leigh Symonds as Rosencrantz (or possibly Guildenstern) displays some
wonderful comic facial expressions as the 'thick' one of the two. They
create a naturally-funny double act together that can only get better
as they settle into the run.
The majority of the play is really a two-hander, but in total there
is a cast of thirteen actors, mostly playing small or even multiple
roles. The next character in terms of amount of dialogue is the player,
the main one of the actors who come to Elsinore to perform for Hamlet
and the King. Michael Jenn seems absolutely at home in this role, giving
a very confident performance that is convincing and larger-than-life
without ever being over-the-top.
The other members of the band of players speak very little, but work
brilliantly together using movement as they demonstrate the elements
of their art and give a preview of their performance in dumb show. The
movement pieces are extremely slick and very funny, presumably created
with movement director Peta Lily. If anyone stands out from this great
ensemble playing, it is probably Cameron Slater as Alfred, the young
boy who plays all the female roles, who has some great expressions.
The weakest parts of the production by far are those taken directly
from Hamlet, but then it must be difficult to cast a play where
you want people to perform some of Shakespeare's greatest and most difficult
dramatic roles but only as bit-part actors. These sections are often
a little dull, and there are a few irritating 'Shakespearean' voices
and a Hamlet (Phil Rowson) who never looks or sounds at all confident
on stage in this role.
However this does not spoil the sheer entertainment of this production
as a whole, which has plenty of laughs even for those whose knowledge
of Hamlet is a little lacking. Director Chris Honer throws everything
at the ending of the play in terms of stage effects, which very effectively
brings out the powerful philosophical debate at the heart of the play,
ties together visually the fates of the heroes of both Stoppard's and
Shakespeare's plays and raises the whole thing above what could on the
surface be a witty but very wordy comedy about nothing - the Seinfeld
of the Shakespearean stage.
Running until 10th March
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