Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966.[1] The From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia play expands upon the exploits of two Jump to: navigation, search minor characters from Shakespeare's This article is about Tom Stoppard's play. Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and For the 1990 film, see Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. The action of Stoppard's play Guildenstern Are Dead (film) . takes place mainly 'in the wings' of This article is about the play. For the Shakespeare's, with brief appearances of characters from Shakepeare's Hamlet, see major characters from Hamlet who enact Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. fragments of the original's scenes. Between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Deadthese episodes the two protagonists voice their confusion at the progress of events of which—occurring onstage without them in Hamlet—they have no direct knowledge. Contents

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 1 Sources o 1.1 Title  2 Characters  3 Synopsis  4 Summary Grove Press, 1968 edition o 4.1 Act One Written by Tom Stoppard o 4.2 Act Two Rosencrantz o 4.3 Act Three Guildenstern  5 Themes The Player  6 Metatheatre Hamlet  7 Notable productions Tragedians o 7.1 United Kingdom King Claudius Characters o 7.2 Broadway and Off- Gertrude Broadway Polonius o 7.3 Film adaptation Ophelia  8 References Horatio  9 Further reading Fortinbras Soldiers, courtiers, and musicians  10 External links Date premiered 26 August 1966 Edinburgh Fringe Place premiered Sources Edinburgh, Scotland Original language English The main source of Rosencrantz and Subject Guildenstern are Dead is Shakespeare's Genre Tragic comedy Hamlet. Comparisons have also been Setting Shakespeare's Hamlet drawn to Samuel Beckett's Waiting For IBDB profile Godot,[2] for the presence of two central characters who almost appear to be two Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead halves of a single character. Many plot is an absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy features are similar as well: the characters pass time by playing Questions, Shakespeare's Hamlet who are childhood impersonating other characters, and friends of the prince, focusing on their interrupting each other or remaining silent actions with the events of Hamlet as for long periods of time. background. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is structured as the Title inverse of Hamlet; the title characters are the leads, not supporting players, and The title is taken directly from the final Hamlet himself has only a small part. The scene of Shakespeare's Hamlet. In earlier duo appears on stage here when they are scenes, Prince Hamlet ordered the deaths off-stage in Shakespeare's play, with the of the two messengers Rosencrantz and exception of a few short scenes in which Guildenstern. By the end of Shakespeare's the dramatic events of both plays coincide. play, Prince Hamlet, Laertes, Ophelia, In Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Polonius, King Claudius and Gertrude all are used by the King in an attempt to lie dead. An ambassador from England discover Hamlet's motives and to plot arrives to bluntly report "Rosencrantz and against him. Hamlet, however, mocks them Guildenstern are dead"(Hamlet. Act V, derisively and outwits them, so that they, Scene ii., line.411) and so they join all the rather than he, are executed in the end. stabbed, poisoned, drowned key characters. Thus, from Rosencrantz's and By the end of Hamlet, Horatio is the only Guildenstern's perspective, the action in main figure left alive. Hamlet is largely nonsensically comical.

The two characters, brought into being Characters within the puzzling universe of Stoppard's play by an act of the playwright's creation,  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: a have generally interchangeable, yet pair of schoolmates and childhood periodically unique, identities. Thus, the friends of Hamlet two often confuse their own names, as do  The Player: a traveling actor the other characters when referring to  Hamlet: the Prince of Denmark them. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are  Tragedians: traveling with the portrayed as two clowns or fools in a world Player, including Alfred that is beyond their understanding; they  King Claudius: the King of cannot identify any reliable feature or the Denmark, Hamlet's uncle and significance in words or events. Their own stepfather memories are not reliable or complete and  Gertrude: the Queen of Denmark, they misunderstand each other as they and Hamlet's mother stumble through philosophical arguments  Polonius: Claudius' chief adviser while not realizing the implications to  Ophelia: Polonius' daughter themselves. They often state deep  Horatio: a friend and schoolmate of philosophical truths during their Hamlet nonsensical ramblings, yet they depart  Fortinbras: the nephew of the King from these ideas as quickly as they come to of Norway them. At times Guildenstern appears to be  Soldiers, courtiers, and musicians more enlightened than Rosencrantz; at times both of them appear to be equally Synopsis confounded by the events occurring around them. The play concerns the misadventures and musings of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, After the two characters witness a two minor characters from William performance of The Murder of Gonzago— the story within a story in the play Hamlet Here the Danish king and queen, Claudius —they find themselves on a boat taking and Gertrude, ask the two to discover the prince Hamlet to England with the troupe nature of Hamlet's recent madness. The that staged the performance. They are royal couple demonstrate an inability to intended to give the English king a distinguish the two courtiers from one message telling him to kill Hamlet. another, as indeed do the characters Instead, Hamlet discovers this and themselves to their irritation. switches the letter for another, telling the king to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern attempt to During the voyage, the two are ambushed practice for their meeting with the Prince by pirates and lose their prisoner, Hamlet, by one pretending to be Hamlet and the before resigning themselves to their fate other asking him questions, but they glean and presumably dying thereafter. no new information from it. The act closes with another scene from Hamlet in which Major themes of the play include they finally meet the Prince face to face. existentialism, free will vs. determinism, the search for value, and the impossibility Act Two of certainty. As with many of Tom Stoppard's works, the play has a love for The act opens with the end of the cleverness and language. It treats language conversation between Rosencrantz, as a confounding system fraught with Guildenstern, and Hamlet. Guildenstern ambiguity. tries to look on the bright side, while Rosencrantz makes it clear that the pair Summary had made no progress, that Hamlet had entirely outwitted them. Act One The Player returns to the stage. He is angry that the pair had not earlier stayed to watch The play opens with Rosencrantz and their play because, without an audience, Guildenstern betting on coin flips. his Tragedians are nothing. He tells them Rosencrantz, who bets heads each time, to stop questioning their existence because, wins ninety-two flips in a row. The upon examination, life appears too chaotic extreme unlikeliness of this event to comprehend. The Player, Rosencrantz, according to the laws of probability leads and Guildenstern lose themselves in yet Guildenstern to suggest that they may be another illogical conversation that 'within un-, sub- or supernatural forces'. demonstrates the limits of language. The The reader learns why they are where they Player leaves in order to prepare for his are: the King has sent for them. production of the "Murder of Gonzago," Guildenstern theorizes on the nature of set to be put on in front of Hamlet and the reality, focusing on how an event becomes King and Queen. increasingly real as more people witness it. The royal couple enters and begins another A troupe of Tragedians arrive and offer the short scene taken directly from Hamlet: two men a show. They seem capable only they ask about the duo's encounter with the of performances involving bloodbaths. The Prince, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern next two scenes are from the plot of inform them about his interest in the Hamlet. The first, involving Hamlet and Tragedians' production. After the king and Ophelia, takes place off-stage in the queen leave, the partners contemplate their Shakespeare. The second is taken directly job. They see Hamlet walk by but fail to from Hamlet, and is Rosencrantz and seize the opportunity to interview him. Guildenstern's first appearance in that play. The Tragedians return and perform their Claudius has asked for Hamlet to be killed. dress rehearsal of The Murder of Gonzago. While Rosencrantz seems hesitant to The play moves beyond the scope of what follow their orders now, Guildenstern the reader sees in Hamlet; characters convinces him that they are not worthy of resembling Rosencrantz and Guildenstern interfering with fate and with the plans of are seen taking a sea voyage and meeting kings. The stage becomes black and, their deaths at the hands of English presumably, the characters go to sleep. courtiers, foreshadowing their true fate. Hamlet switches the letter with one he has Rosencrantz doesn't quite make the written himself, an act which takes place connection, but Guildenstern is frightened off stage in Hamlet. into a verbal attack on the Tragedians' inability to capture the real essence of The pair discovers that the Tragedians are death. The stage becomes dark. hidden ('impossibly', according to the stage directions) in several barrels on deck. They When the stage is once again visible, are fleeing Denmark, because their play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern lie in the has offended Claudius. When Rosencrantz same position as had the actors portraying complains that there is not enough action, their deaths. The partners are upset that pirates attack. Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and they have become the pawns of the royal Guildenstern and the Player all hide in couple. Claudius enters again and tells separate barrels. The lights dim. them to find where Hamlet has hidden Polonius' corpse. After many false starts When the lights come on again, Hamlet they eventually find Hamlet, who leaves has vanished (in Hamlet it's reported that with the King. he was kidnapped by pirates from the ship). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern panic, Rosencrantz is delighted to find that his and re-read the letter to find that it now mission is complete, but Guildenstern calls for them to be put to death instead of knows it is not over. Hamlet enters, the prince. Guildenstern cannot understand speaking with a Norwegian soldier. why he and Rosencrantz are so important Rosencrantz decides that he is happy to as to necessitate their executions. accompany Hamlet to England because it means freedom from the orders of the The Player tells Guildenstern that all paths Danish court. Guildenstern understands end in death. Guildenstern snaps and draws that wherever they go, they are still trapped the Player's dagger from his belt, shouting in this world. at him that his portrayals of death do not do justice to the real thing. He stabs the Act Three Player and the Player appears to die. Guildenstern honestly believes he has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find killed the Player. Seconds later, the themselves on a ship that has already set Tragedians begin to clap and the Player sail. The audience is led to believe that the stands up and brushes himself off, pair has no knowledge of how they got revealing the knife to be a theatrical one there. At first, they try to determine with a retractable blade. The Tragedians whether they are still alive. Eventually, then act out the deaths from the final scene they recognize that they are not dead and of Hamlet. are on board a boat. They remember that Claudius had given them a letter to deliver The lighting shifts so that Rosencrantz and to England. After some brief confusion Guildenstern are the only ones visible. over who actually has the letter, they find it Rosencrantz still does not understand why and end up opening it. They realize that they must die. Still, he resigns himself to his fate and his character disappears. world are in conflict. The Player is Guildenstern wonders when he passed the overjoyed to find Rosencrantz and point where he could have stopped the Guildenstern because his art, his series of events that has brought him to this control, is nothing without an point. He disappears as well. The final audience. Yet this art angers scene features the last few lines from Guildenstern to the point where he Shakespeare's Hamlet. The Ambassador strikes the Player because this from England announces that Rosencrantz theater makes it seem as if there are and Guildenstern are dead. definite answers to all of Guildenstern's philosophical Themes questions. Of course, there are no answers in reality. In order to reach out to the only reality he can be Absurdity sure of, Guildenstern exclaims, "No one gets up after death-there is no The story underlines the applause-there is only silence and irrationality of the world in some second-hand clothes, and multiple instances. Stoppard that's death." The tension created emphasizes the randomness of the by this theme is that the audience is world. In the beginning of Act One, watching or reading a play; the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern bet author comments on the ultimate on coin flips and Rosencrantz wins lack of order in the world by with heads ninety-two times in a presenting the audience with an row. Guildenstern creates a series ordered medium.[4] Stoppard also of syllogisms in order to interpret uses his characters to comment on this phenomenon, but nothing truly the believability of theater. While coincides with the law of Guildenstern criticizes the Player probability. The impossible for his portrayal of death, he becomes possible through believes the Player's performance exploiting the minimal chance of a when Guildenstern thinks he has coin flip turning up heads ninety- stabbed him with a knife. two times in a row. The action is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern absurd, but possible. This incident believe exactly what the actors demonstrates the absurdity of want them to believe. However, humans basing many of their Stoppard complicates the idea that actions on the probability or people believe what they expect likelihood of an event to happen. because he never shows the deaths The random appearances of the of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. other characters, which often The reader expects this event to confuses the title characters, come, but it never does. By contributes to the same idea.[3] extension, the reader should not Art vs. Reality believe that the pair dies; the reader The players help demonstrate the is expected to accept that they are conflict between art and reality. literary figures that live on today.[3] The world in which Rosencrantz In another scene, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern live lacks order. screams out "Fire!", ostensibly to However, art allows people that call attention to a real fire in the live in this world, as Stoppard hints actual theater in which the play is that we do, to find order. As the being performed, but laughs it off Player says, "There's a design at as a reason why there should be work in all art." Art and the real limits to free speech, and thus Metatheatre is a central structural element blurring of the line between action of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are in the play and action in real life. Dead. Metatheatrical scenes, that is, scenes Limits of Language that are staged as plays, dumb shows, or Some of the conversations in the commentaries on dramatic theory and play indicate the author's belief that practice, are prominent in both Stoppard’s language places a limit on what play and Shakespeare’s original tragedy people can express. The characters Hamlet. In Hamlet, metatheatrical must confine their feelings within elements include the Player’s speech (2.2), the boundaries of words. Stoppard Hamlet’s advice to the Players (3.2), and mocks language in sequences the meta-play "The Mousetrap" (3.3). where the characters fail to express Since Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are what they are thinking because characters from Hamlet itself, Stoppard’s words cannot exactly capture their entire play can be considered a piece of thoughts. Instead, they appear metatheatre. However, this first level of ridiculous. metatheatre is deepened and complicated Insignificance by frequent briefer and more intense Rosencrantz and Guildenstern often metatheatrical episodes; see, for example, feel as if they are unable to make the Players’ pantomimes of Hamlet in Acts any choices that will actually have 2 and 3, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern’s an impact on their lives. They obsessive role-playing, and the Player’s acknowledge that they must act at "death" in Act 3. Bernardina da Silveira the random whims of the other Pinheiro observes that Stoppard uses characters, but do not make any metatheatrical devices to produce a effort to fight this lack of control. "parody" of the key elements of Stoppard manifests this theme in Shakespeare’s Hamlet that includes his transitions between scenes. foregrounding two minor characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do considered "nonentities" in the original not choose to move from setting to tragedy.[5] Pinheiro notes that Stoppard setting, but they appear in a new alters the focus of Hamlet’s "play-within- place without deciding to go there. a-play" so that it reveals the ultimate fate For instance, they move from the of the tragicomedy’s anti-heroes, woods with the Tragedians into the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However, castle to a conversation with the this alteration ultimately culminates in an king and queen without actually absurdist anti-climax that runs counter to saying they want to enter Elsinore. the effect of "The Mousetrap" in Hamlet, When deciding whether to bring which effectively reveals the guilt of the Hamlet to England, Rosencrantz King. While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern concludes that they might as well confront a mirror image of their future continue on the path on which they deaths in the metadramatic spectacle are already. Stoppard criticizes this staged by the Players, they fail to passivity. The title characters are recognize themselves in it or gain any able to make a life-changing insight into their identities or purpose.[5] decision when they discover that their letter contains an order to kill Notable productions Hamlet. Instead, they decide to do nothing and the result is their deaths.[3] United Kingdom The play had its first incarnation as a 1964 Metatheatre one-act, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet King Lear. The expanded version Guildenstern and Lane Davies as under the current title was first staged at Rosencrantz. the Edinburgh Festival Fringe August 24, 1966 by the Oxford Theatre Group. The The play had a 1987 New York revival by play debuted in London with a National Roundabout Theatre at the Union Square Theatre production directed by Derek Theatre,[1] directed by Robert Carsen and Goldby and designed by Desmond Heeley featuring John Wood as the Player, at the Old Vic. It premiered on April 11, Stephen Lang as Rosencrantz and John 1967 with John Stride as Rosencrantz, Rubinstein as Guildenstern. It ran for 40 Edward Petherbridge as Guildenstern, performances from April 29 to June 28, Graham Crowden as the Player, and John 1987. McEnery as Hamlet. [6] Several times since 1995, the American Broadway and Off-Broadway Shakespeare Center has mounted repertories that included both Hamlet and The Royal National Theatre production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, with the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had a year- same actors performing the same roles in long Broadway run from October 9, 1967 each; in their 2001 and 2009 seasons the through October 19, 1968, initially at the two plays were "directed, designed, and Alvin Theatre, then transferring to the rehearsed together to make the most out of Eugene O'Neill Theatre on January 8, the shared scenes and situations".[8] 1968. The production, which was Stoppard's first on Broadway, totalled eight Film adaptation previews and 420 performances.[1] It was directed by Derek Goldby and designed by Main article: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Desmond Heeley and starred Paul Hecht as Are Dead (film) the Player, Brian Murray as Rosencrantz and John Wood as Guildenstern. The play The play was adapted for a film released in was nominated for eight Tony Awards, and February 1990, with screenplay and won four: Best Play, Scenic and Costume direction by Stoppard. The motion picture Design, and Producer; the director and the is Stoppard's only film directing credit: three leading actors were nominated for "[I]t began to become clear that it might be Tonys, but did not win.[7] The play also a good idea if I did it myself--at least the won Best Play from the New York Drama director wouldn't have to keep wondering Critics Circle in 1968, and Outstanding what the author meant. It just seemed that Production from the Outer Critics Circle in I'd be the only person who could treat the 1969. play with the necessary disrespect."[9] The cast included Gary Oldman as A 1971 college production was Rosencrantz, Tim Roth as Guildenstern, coincidentally also the first college Richard Dreyfuss as the Player, Joanna performance by later-acclaimed Roth as Ophelia, Ian Richardson as Shakespearean actor Richard Hauenstein. Polonius, Joanna Miles as Gertrude, He played Guildenstern, with David Donald Sumpter as Claudius, and Iain Glen Massey as Rosencrantz and Jack Harris as as Hamlet. the Player King. The production was directed by West Hill. References A revival in Burbank, California during the 1. ^ a b c Michael H. Hutchins early 1980s featured Matthew Faison as (14 August 2006). "A Tom Stoppard Bibliography: Chronology". The Stephen %20Guildenstern%20Are Sondheim Reference Guide. %20Dead. Retrieved 2008-06-23. http://www.sondheimguide.com/St 8. ^ Warren, Jim. "Director's oppard/chronology.html. Retrieved Notes". American Shakespeare 2008-06-23. Center. 2. ^ Jim Hunter (2000). Tom http://www.americanshakespearece Stoppard: Rosencrantz and nter.com/v.php?pg=153. Retrieved Guildenstern are dead, Jumpers, 2009-06-20. Travesties, Arcadia. Macmillan. 9. ^ Los Angeles Times http://books.google.co.uk/books? id=ohoJihItGSoC. Further reading 3. ^ a b c Garrett Ziegler (2008). "Rosencrantz and  Stoppard, Tom (1967). Guildenstern Are Dead: Themes, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Motifs & Symbols". SparkNotes. Dead. London: Faber and Faber. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/rose OCLC 228670971. ncrantz/themes.html. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 4. ^ Ian Johnston (10 April External links 1997). "Lecture on Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Theatre portal Dead". Johnstonia. http://www.mala.bc.ca/~Johnstoi/in Wikiquote has a collection of troser/stoppard.htm. Retrieved quotations related to: 2008-06-23. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern 5. ^ a b Pinheiro, Bernardina da Are Dead Silveira; Resende, Aimara da Cunha, ed. (2002). "Stoppard’s and  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Shakespeare’s Views on Dead at the Internet Broadway Metatheater". Foreign Accents: Database Brazilian Readings of Shakespeare.  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Newark, DE: University of Dead at the Internet Off-Broadway Delaware Press. pp. 185, 194. Database ISBN 0874137535.  A Tom Stoppard Bibliography: http://books.google.com/books? Chronology at sondheimguide.com. id=P7yxUiVthVkC&pg=PA185. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 6. ^ Michael Berry (24 May 2004). "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead". Michael Berry's Web Pages. http://www.sff.net/people/mberry/r osen.htp. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 7. ^ "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Tony Award Info". BroadwayWorld. 2008. http://www.broadwayworld.com/to nyawardsshowinfo.cfm? showname=Rosencrantz%20and