We're tragedians, you see. We follow directions - there is no choice involved. The bad end unhappily, the good end unluckily, that is what tragedy means...
Main Info
It's Wikipedia - what can I say?
A nice Stoppard site, with synopsis and the original cast.
Script
Script - the script of the play. Curiously enough, it contains a few lines which oddly aren't in my edition of the text, from when Ros and Guil meet up with the Player again:
GUIL: Ah! I'd forgotten - you performed a dramatic spectacle by the wayside - a thing much thought of in the New Testament. How did yours compare as an impromptu?
PLAYER: Badly - neither witnessed nor reported.
GUIL: Yes, I'm sorry we had to miss it. I hope you didn't leave anything out - I'd be furious to think I didn't miss all of it.
These are the only ones I've noticed at any rate - it looks pretty accurate otherwise.
The story doesn't quite end there though. The version you're familiar with is probably the 1968 one. The 1967 one had a whole whack of lines cut/added/tweaked. I'd kill to get me hands on a copy, just to play spot the difference. One very significant scene was removed - the last one. It's not very subtle (lots of people worked out this was being implied without it) but it does confirm we were right. And it's very very interesting. Read it
here.
If you can't handle the whole thing at once, the play's broken down into manageable chunks at wikiquote
Performance
According to this site, the play has 35 male roles and 6 female...seems a bit many to me. If you're short on friends, there are closer to 11 speaking roles, and infinite oppertunities for doubling up. Rights and permissions for amateur performances can be obtained through Samuel French, Inc (thanks Travesties for that)
Influences:
Hamlet! - no duh, eh? I've got no where else to put these links, so here's the fanlisting for revenge tragedies, and here's the Hamlet fanlisting (warning: the latter suffers from tiny text..) You should definitely read this for a bit more R'n'G insight. Their role is entirely ambiguous - I can find you evidence that they are complicit in Claudius plan, that they are intruding idiots, that they're as misled and duped as everyone else or that they only wish the best for Hamlet all the way through. Marvellous! One curious piece of pointless trivia is Ros speaks far more than Guil in the play. Both Rosencrantz' reading from the first letter ("several sorts of reasons...", and the Player reading from the second ("as love between them like the palm might flourish") have been taken from Hamlet's own words when recounting the incident in act...act...*checks copy*...Act 5 Scene 2. When Ros and Guil first appear in Elsinore, they see Hamlet and Ophelia enacting the offscreen incident described in Act 2 Scene 1 - in the R+GaD script, Ophelia's speech is turned into a stage direction
Waiting for Godot - best described by Vivian Mercier as a play where "nothing happens, twice", this is probably the most cited influence for R+GaD, and certainly recommended for anyone who the latter. It has a similar blend of absurdism, nowhere musings and quickfire conversations. After shooting had finished, Tim Roth and Gary Oldman considered performing this on stage. Now that would have been worth a watch (firstly, which way around would you have cast them?!).
A comparison between the two can be read
here.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - as written by W.S. Gilbert of Gilbert-and-Sullivan. Written in Shakesperian style, and actually pretty funny in places, this tells a different story of what went on at Elsinore.
Six Characters in Search of an Author - A normal rehersal is interrupted by six characters who have been abandoned by their playwright, seeking to get their story on the stage. It's not necessarily a massive influence, but definitely recommended and of interest to anyone who enjoyed the Player's rants on the stage vs. life.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock - Poem by TS Eliot. OK, so it's influence isn't massive, but it is at least referenced. Well...I picked up on this one, so I could be wrong...it's all about a shy guy with a lot of questions he can't quite get round to asking. The line "I hear the voices dying with a dying fall" (itself a reference to Twelth Night) is referenced in a stage direction (Rosencrantz says he wants to go home "with a dying fall"). And, erm, helooo lines 111-119?
Essays
Lecture - lots of things I like about this one, especially as regards the Player. And he includes a few paragraphs about how sweet they are. And he agrees with my point about J. Alfred Prufrock!
Another essay - nothing special
A series of critical quotes about the play.
Educational notes! - bear with me, some of these are kinda interesting.
Notes - a few interesting thoughts about the play. I was intrigued by the last one...
Gradesaver - Another site who agrees with me about the Eliot poem! Nothing groundbreaking, but an fair enough read – even if the description “best friends” is jarringly simplistic. The essay questions are cute, though. The quiz on the other hand has the nerve to ask “Which genre is this play: comedy, tragedy, history or morality?” (ps, they reckon it’s tragedy)
Pink Monkey -
Curiosly enough, Pink Monkey thinks that “it is not a tragedy.” It also claims there is “very little emotion” in it, which is the curse of studying plays on paper. As the film proves, there’s more than enough emotion to go around – it needs an actor’s inflection to draw attention to it. Still, the character profiles are competent and as usual, the study questions are worth a think. Especially “Is Rosencrantz happy?” Stupid question…
And another one - existentialism blech, all the usual comments in a slightly different order
Awards:
~the Tonys Broadway awards really liked the play, giving it a whole stack of nice things - the 1968 performance won best play, best set design, best set design and best producer. And three actors and the director were also nominated. See the site for details.
Original Production:
An early version of the play was performed on 24th April 1966 at the Edinburgh fringe, with David Marks and Clive Cable in the leading roles. After that, it went to the Old Vic on 11th April the following year in the form we all know and love, this time starring Edward Petherbridge and John Stride. The Internet Broadway Database has details for the first performance in the USA.
Trivia:
~ According to the original edition, Ros was to wear brown and Guil blue.
See it live!
It's one of my many many dreams for this site to have a comprehensive list of everywhere showing the play at any given time. Sadly, until this place gains enough recognition that people'll submit their performances (unlikely to happen ever), or I work out a system of finding them, it'd be best to keep an eye on this blog. It's an up to date record of all things Stoppard in the media, on the stage, in popular culture et al. And somehow, he's picked up on several current performances of R+G across the globe where I have failed - so I figure here's your best bet.
Find a copy
Amazon UK
Amazon USA
Reviews
I'm not sure there's any danger of a negative review of the play itself being found on the whole web, but here goes...
thoughts on Amazon USA
thoughts on Amazon UK
Performances - is there a point to me listing these?
Risley Theatre
Castle Theatre
Nikos Stage
Baylor Theatre I enjoyed reading this one...
Pioneer Theatre
Williamstown Theatre
Shakespeare Theatre, New Jersey
Comments? Love? Relentless squeeing? Details I've forgotten? Are you performing the play and want it listed? Email me, or just pop a comment here:
|
