Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

This article is about Tom Stoppard's play. For the 1990 film, see Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (film).

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Written byTom Stoppard
Characters
  • Rosencrantz
  • Guildenstern
  • The Player
  • Alfred
  • Hamlet
  • Tragedians
  • King Claudius
  • Gertrude
  • Polonius
  • Ophelia
  • Horatio
  • Fortinbras
  • Soldiers, courtiers, and musicians
Date premiered24 August 1966
Place premieredEdinburgh Fringe
Original languageEnglish
GenreTragicomedy
surreal humour
black comedy
SettingShakespeare's Hamlet
Josip Zovko as Hamlet, HNK Split

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966.[1][2] The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and the main setting is Denmark.

The action of Stoppard's play takes place mainly "in the wings" of Shakespeare's Hamlet, with brief appearances of major characters from Hamlet who enact fragments of the original's scenes. Between these episodes, the two protagonists voice their confusion at the progress of events occurring onstage without them in Hamlet, of which they have no direct knowledge.

Comparisons have also been drawn with Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot,[3] for the presence of two central characters who almost appear to be two halves of a single character. Many plot features are similar as well: the characters pass time by playing Questions, impersonating other characters, and interrupting each other or remaining silent for long periods of time.

  1. ^ "Edinburgh: Cradle of shows that conquered the world". The Independent. 2 August 2010.
  2. ^ Michael H. Hutchins (14 August 2006). "A Tom Stoppard Bibliography: Chronology". The Stephen Sondheim Reference Guide. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  3. ^ Jim Hunter (2000). Tom Stoppard: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, Jumpers, Travesties, Arcadia. Macmillan. ISBN 9780571197828.