Before seeing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, it is a necessity to have seen or at least to have read Shakespeare's Hamlet. Without knowing the first version of the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark, it is impossible to fully comprehend the interplay between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and their relationship to the other "major" characters from Hamlet.
That being said, even if one is familiar with Hamlet, grappling with the world created by modernist playwright Tom Stoppard is no easy task.
In Center Stage's production, Michael Jean Dozier plays the role of the more playful and na've Rosencrantz, while Howard W. Overshaw is the more serious and intellectual Guildenstern. Successfully portraying the duo as "everymen" that embody the good of humanity and as singled out individuals, who are victims of circumstance, Dozier and Overshaw both give heartfelt performances. They elicit sympathy for the two friends whose fates are held in the hands of outside forces in the form of the royal court of Denmark.
Throughout the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern broach the subjects of the world's incomprehensibility and seemingly random nature, often to comic effect, but like Hamlet, played by Reese Madigan, they also consider what death is and whether it is better "to be or not to be," without reusing those words.
Their conversations simultaneously are interrupted and enhanced when Mark Elliot Wilson and Chandler Vinton, as the King and Queen of Denmark order them to discover what ails Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern role-play to guess at what readers of Hamlet already know afflicts the Prince.
Stoppard cleverly has the two title characters debate the role of an actor, as well. During their encounters with the tragedians who stage The Murder of Gonzago, in addition to bawdy, burlesque routines, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ask how someone playing a part can be realistic or moving when they die over and over again on stage.
This group of actors, especially the lead player, Laurence O'Dwyer, convincingly proves that even though he and his fellow tragedians are acting, the audience is accustomed to what their performance mimics. Thus, it is difficult not to be touched by the realistic recreation of life and death, even if one is aware that the story is not real.
In Act III, Stoppard continues to plays off audience expectations with an added fighting scene. "Invisible" pirates randomly attack the ship taking them to England, since it is proclaimed that the audience will not be happy unless there is some sort of action.
Like other scenes, this one provides relief from the underlying melancholy of the play since at this time when the pirates launch an assault on the boat presumably Hamlet's fate is sealed, but Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sailing toward their deaths, as well.
Though it is highly philosophical and engaging, it must be said that the play is very talky, probably due to the fact that Stoppard apparently loved experimenting with words to the point of distraction.
Also, most of the action happens off-stage or near Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, rather than to them. Hamlet chases Ophelia, played by Kristen Sieh, or Polonius, played by Ralph Coshman, consults King Claudius and Queen Gertrude, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are left contemplating what happens around them and speculating if there is any way out for them.
Because the dialogue goes by quickly and even Rosencrantz and Guildenstern misunderstand each other and their own identities, the audience must concentrate throughout in order to attempt to decipher the overall message.
Yet not being able to completely pin the play down is gives it a fascinating quality. Though they remain ambiguous, the title Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and the plot suggest that the pair is already dead. They might still be alive, but they may not be. Instead they might be reliving the moments just before they are executed and they could be finding out, like the audience is, what the complete story of Hamlet entails.
Beyond the storyline or lack thereof, the set designer and costume designers made interesting choices for this production. The setting was minimalist to the maximum with a forest made of extra large colorful figurines, a castle entrance hall with two gorgeous chandeliers and doors that lead to nowhere, and a ship with umbrellas and lighting resembling water ripples.
It is a bit jarring at first that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern wear clownish, Depression-era outfits, the tragedians wear Elizabethan actors' clothing with a hint of modern punk flair, Claudius and Gertrude wear formal current clothing and Polonius, Ophelia and Hamlet wear late Victorian-esque costumes. However, the mismatching costumes seemed to work by underscoring the disunity and competition among the characters.
Originally, Stoppard's play was novel and an immediate success when it premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966; now it seems to resemble other proceeding works like Beckett's apocalyptic Waiting For Godot or the straightman and comic act of Abbott and Costello. However, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is still thought-provoking, and even though Stoppard borrowed certain concepts, he gives them a new spin.
