2011 seems to be the year for
Hamlets, the West End is rife with them, the National did one, the Globe has one coming up and the Young Vic has cast Martin Sheen in the title role in theirs. Which means it's also a good time for a revival of
Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which is a clever play that redirects the spotlight of Shakespeare's revenge tragedy onto these two lesser, yet equally doomed, characters.
The title belies the end in store for the two, but it's also a line that comes directly from the final scene of
Hamlet. At this point in
Hamlet, the Danish prince himself is dead, along with Ophelia, Polonius, Laertes, Gertrude and King Claudius – it's a veritable bloodbath - when in harks a herald from England and gives the announcement that
"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead" (Hamlet. Act V, Scene ii., line.411) also, in response to Hamlet's orders from an earlier scene.
In both
Hamlet and this play, these two luckless souls are given the task of delivering a letter to the English king which instructs him to kill Hamlet, but Hamlet finds out and switches the letter so that it now says that Rosencrantz and Guildernstern should be murdered. R&G appear in a few scenes in
Hamlet, which have also been written into this play - and other characters from Shakespeare's play make appearances here as well - but they spend most of their time wondering what's going on in quite a philosophical way. They're sort of in the wings of the main event, trying to suss out what's really going on. They also pass the time impersonating other characters, discussing the meaning of life in general and playing word games. Which might sound frivolous or archaic, but that's the point, and this work is no less thought provoking for it.
R&G are supposedly school-mates of Hamlet, and in this revival production they're being played by ex-
History Boys alumni,
Samuel Barnett and
Jamie Parker. Both of these 'boys' were part of the original
The History Boys 'crew' and both of them have been doing a lot of work since, but to raise the casting bar even further they're joined in this production by
Tim Curry, who plays the role of The Player, and directed by the genius that is
Trevor Nunn, who's now the Artistic Director of the
Haymarket. So this production has been given every opportunity of critical and popular success.
One of the best things about this play is the wonderful use of language. The two title characters talk their way, irrationally, in and out of all sorts of wisdom and foolishness and yet ultimately discover they have very little control over their own destinies. It's very funny, but poignantly and sadly true as well. Certainly a play that will have you chatting for hours in late night bars or cafes post show.
