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Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Introduction
Welcome to this introduction to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, directed by David Leveaux. The audio described performance will take place on Tuesday the 4th of April at 7.30 pm with a touch tour at 6.00 pm. The performance lasts for approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including an interval of 20 minutes.
Touch tours are completely free and last about 20 minutes. They give you an opportunity to explore the set and handle some of the props. There will also be an opportunity to meet some members of the production team who bring the play to the stage. It is essential to book, so please call 020 7981 0981 to reserve your place. If you’re coming to the tour on your own we can arrange for a member of staff to accompany you. Please also let the box office know if you'd like to bring your guide dog into the auditorium and we will try to offer an aisle seat if one is available. The Front of House staff will be happy to take care of your dog during the performance if you would prefer. Please come to the foyer at 5.45 in time for the 6.00 touch tour.
Some background
Fifty years ago the 29-year-old Tom Stoppard had a huge success with his tragicomedy at the Old Vic.When Laurence Olivier filmed Hamlet in 1948 he cut Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from the script completely. In Tom Stoppard’s play they take centre stage and it is Hamlet, Claudius and Gertrude who remain on the periphery.
The action takes place inside Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but the action is observed from the point of view of these two university students, two confused innocents, who are caught up in events they don’t understand. Hamlet’s old friends are intrigued by what they witness, but never enlightened.
The set, characters and costumes
The story is played out using the entire width and length of the Old Vic’s long cavernous stage – some 10 metres wide and almost three times as long. The stage converges into a point at the front and the floor has been painted with cloudy shapes of pale pink, white and a misty grey. The set is sparse, with only token pieces of furniture being brought in by the cast to suggest different locations. On either side are three tall panels each about three metres wide and painted with the same rosy clouds. These panels can slide to the left and right, opening up large spaces in the walls where fingers of light stream through, forming pathways across the floor. At the rear, another panel rises up, curving like a breaking wave and forming a ceiling over the stage. This panel does not fill the rear space entirely and banks of lights are visible on either side, hanging on the theatre’s black back walls.
At the beginning of the play the right hand side of the stage is shielded by a gauzy white curtain spattered with stains and grime, hanging about two metres from the edge of the stage. On the left, in a tight square spotlight is a set of wooden stepladders, and behind them, almost at the back, is a standard light on a black metal pole. The large bulb is enclosed by a black metal cage that follows its shape. Three filaments within glow with amber light.
As the play continues, another curtain replaces the white one. It is pulled over from the left and is used as a backdrop on the right, left, or centre of the space. Printed on it is an Elizabethan picture in sepia browns and creams. It shows a galleon in a river inlet. Around the galleon, men ply their trade on the river in rowing boats, and a fish spouts. The river winds over to the right around a shoreline dotted with figures, trees and deer. At the top on the right hand side of the curtain is a compass and a crescent moon surrounded by twelve discs.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the first characters we meet. These two young men are puzzled, not sure why they are here or even quite certain which is Rosencrantz and which is Guildenstern. They are of similar age, mid twenties. Both are short, almost exactly the same height.
The character named in the programme as Rosencrantz is slightly built.He wears a short doublet, a jacket that reaches to just below the waist, with long padded sleeves. It is made of plum coloured velvet, with a high collar, open at the neck to reveal a glimpse of white shirt underneath. A tight row of many small buttons close the front. The sleeves are lighter coloured, a textured brocade. With this he wears black trousers tucked into long black boots. He has short dark hair which falls over his forehead, a sparse, neatly trimmed, dark beard and thin features. His eyes are deep-set and his expression is frequently bemused and troubled. Rosencrantz is generally the less active of the pair. He is often a rather forlorn figure, given to vacant stares, uncomprehending looks and gentle smiles. He stands with his hands clasped behind his back or thrust into his pockets, or sinks into a chair, his demeanour thoughtful.
Guildenstern, his constant companion, wears a more business-like doublet.
His is a dun coloured brocadeand fastens diagonally across his chest. It has raised epaulettes on the shoulders shaped like armour.He also wears black trousers tucked into his brown boots. Guildenstern isthe more optimistic of the two. He’s a bundle of energy, on his feet, restless, unable to settle, watchful and questioning. Guildenstern is stockier than Rosencrantz. He has a square jaw and broad features. His short mousy hair is curly and tousled and his eyes are bright and alert.
They both sling a leather satchelover one shoulder at the start of their journey and carry canvas kit bags.
The pair are soon joined by a band of players pulling a low flat-bedded wooden cart trimmed at the edges with tatty pink fringing. There’s a pattern of faded red and white diamonds on the flat-bed. When they first trundle in, the cart is carrying a coffin-sized tin box. Later, the players raise long poles wound about with ribbon, red and yellow and blue and green, and attach them to the cart to form their stage. They also produce a bright blue wardrobe stuffed with costumes.
Their leader is known only as The Player. He’s large and vociferous, given to extravagant gestures, sweeping his arms wide, dropping to his knees, falling to the floor. The Player has piercing dark eyes under bushy eyebrows and a scrubby black beard. His hair is swept back from his face and straggles long and unkempt to his shoulders. When he turns from us a bald spot is revealed on his crown. He wears an eclectic selection of clothes.The whole ensemble is topped by an elaborate red tailcoat, reminiscent of a circus ringmaster. It has definitely seen better days and is a little too small for him. The front is cut high to chest level, with wide gold lapels anddecorated with large brass buttons. The deep cuffs of the too-short sleeves are striped gold and black. The collar is black. Under this he wearsa dull gold sleeveless jerkin which hangs open revealing agrubby white vest. This is tucked in to the waist of his shapeless trousers which are decidedly off-white. These are tucked into his battered brown boots and held up by a black leather belt. A large medallion hangs around his neck.
The Player is accompanied by his raggle-taggle, hangdog troupe.They have the blank, white faces of pierrots and wear an incoherent selection of tattered costumes. These appear to have been selected at random from their costume store although they all have a modern look to them. The players have instruments: saxophone, violin, clarinet, guitar, accordion and a small round drum, like a child’s toy. The first playsclarinet. Her clown make-up includes arched eyebrows drawn high on her forehead and a clown’s bald wigwith tufts of grey hair sprouting at the sides. She wears wide legged beige woollen trousers held up with braces and waddles like a skinny little duck. The drum is slung around the neck of a clown like figure with a halo of frizzy black hair on top of which perches a red cap. She is clad in a black and white striped tee-shirt with a floppy gold frill at the neck and gold patterned knickerbockers with white stockings. The accordion player wears an outfit resembling white combinations, with an Elizabethan ruff around his neck. His hair is close cropped with an orange stripe on the top. Another player wears a grey, one piece boiler suit, a black and white spotted neckerchief tied below his chin.
A tight black cap with a red flower on top sits on his head. The guitar hangs across the body of a man wearing a pale grey casual jacket, the sleeves rolled up to three quarter length,over a white shirt with ruffled edgesand wide grey and white striped trousers rolled up at the bottoms.The saxophone is in the hands of a diminutive, drooping girl wearing a long sleeved top of narrow black and grey stripes which she tops with a waistcoat of broader grey and white stripes and a shapeless grey skirt. Her ensemble is topped with a grey beanie hat.
The players also play a small pipe, tambourine, egg shaped shaker and tenor sax
Only one of the troupe is named, Alfred a pale, skinny young man with dark hair and delicate features. He first appears bare chested wearing grubby long-johns.
Alfred plays all the female roles in the troupe, donning a nondescript, tattered modern dress and heeled shoes.
As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern take centre stage the principal characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet make fleeting appearances. Hamlet, the prince of Denmark,is a tall, slender young man with chiselled features and dark hair. He wears modern black trousers with a black leather jacket and a black Elizabethan ruff around his neck.
The king and queen, Claudius and Gertrude are much more flamboyantly dressed - their costumes have an air of pantomime.
Claudius is a swaggering demon king. He has piercing dark eyes, a well-trimmed grey beard, and tightly curled grey hair. He never appears without his crown which is silver mesh, rising in curves on either side. Claudius wears a long dark tunic which buttons down the front with enormous padded shoulders and heavily jewelled sleeves. A gleaming white cravat is knotted at his neck and a luxuriant, sweeping cloak of heavy pink brocade, edged in gold with a deep fur collar hangs from his shoulders.
Gertrude is every inch the Elizabethan queen. Her hair is a tight mass of auburn curls arranged on either side of a broad centre parting on the top of her head and secured with a jewelled net. Her crimson gown has long sleeves and a tightly fitted bodice, the skirt falls in the broad hipped shape of a farthingale, the centre panel is decorated with white lace. Gertrude’s lips are reddened, her pale face is framed by an enormous oval stand up collar made from highly decorative lace with a scalloped border. She holds a matching white lace fan.
Their advisor, Polonius, is an older man, neatly silver-bearded with a flamboyant moustache and balding head. His costume has a military air. Polonius’s sky blue short skirted jacket is closed at the front with heavy gold frogging and gold buttons. Gold braid trims the mandarin collar and edges the cuffs.
His daughter Ophelia wears a long pale blue gown embellished at the waist with gold embroidery. Ophelia’s features are delicate and her long blonde hair is caught back from her face and flows down her back.
Her brother Laertes makes a brief appearance, thin faced and bright eyed in a black doublet and trousers.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern travel on board ship with Hamlet. It’s suggested by adark wooden platform about two metres high forming the poopdeck, where Hamlet sits in a deckchair, protected and almost hidden by a big red parasol. Above him a cream sail curves overhead, fluttering in the sea breezes. It’s tethered to the lower deck by three stout ropes that quiver with each puff of air. Standing in a line on wooden pallets on the lower deck are three large barrels, with a metal box and a wooden crate between them.
Finally, the galleon curtain returns, sweeping across to close down the stage to a dim, barren space.
Cast and production credits
Rosencrantz is played by Daniel Radcliffe
Guildenstern by Joshua McGuire
The Player is David Haig
The young player, Alfred, is Matthew Durkan.
Hamlet is played by Luke Mullins, Claudius by Wil Johnson and Gertrude by Marianne Oldham
Ophelia is played by Helena Wilson
Her brother Laertes by Tim van Eyken
Hamlet’s friend Horatio is played by Theo Ogundipe
The players are Louisa Beadel, Josie Dunn, Evlyne Oyedokun, Alex Sawyer and Tim van Eyken
A courtier is played by Hermellio Miguel Aquino
The Set Designer is Anna Fleischle
The Lighting Designer, Howard Harrison
The Sound Designer, Fergus O'Hare
Costume Design is by Anna Fleischle & Loren Elstein
The Composer is Corin Buckeridge
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead has been directed by David Leveaux
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This information been written by Alison Clarke and Roz Chalmers and recorded by Roz Chalmers for eyewitness.