Hamlet, as Seen from the Wings
Reviving Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the absurdist tragicomedy by acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard, debuted in 1966, theatergoers were blown away. Turning Shakespeare’s Hamlet inside out, making bit characters leads and shrinking Hamlet to a small part, earned the play four Tony Awards.
Bad Habit Productions, a not-for-profit theater troupe from Brighton, revives the elevation of the bumbling Danish duo, kicking off its 2009–2010 season.
Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are ultimate outsiders among a cast of Shakespearean titans. They realize, too late, that their lives’ meaning comes only with their deaths. True to the Bard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern weaves intricate wordplay and verbal and visual puns throughout; scenes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, seen through the prism of two uncomprehending pawns, make the audience wonder about what we really know and understand. The result is a startling perspective on a classic.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead runs at the Durell Theater, 820 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through August 9. Tickets are $15 online and $20 at the door. For more information, e-mail Bad Habit Productions at info@badhabitproductions.org.
Vicky Waltz can be reached at vwaltz@bu.edu.
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