Word: guildensterne
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Many critics agree that Shakespeare was a fine playwright. Of his plays, many of the same critics praise Hamlet in particular. But this megahit does feature two flat characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who appear, fawn sycophantically over everything that moves, and then disappear, apparently to die horribly for no particular reason...
Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern do nothing. They spend their time waiting, watching others, now sucked into the hurly-burly of the Danish court, now spat out. Director Arzhang Kamarei generates this hopeless tone from the outset: to the thundering strains of Mission Impossible theme song, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern race furiously round the stage on hobby horses. This wild dance builds to a galloping climax as the music ends, and then...nothing. As always, R and G rush around achieving diddly squat...
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern threatens to bore the audience with its endless wordplay and inaction. The text's witty repartee requires a quick, fluent and spotlessly clear delivery, or else all the jokes and ideas lose their impact and their meaning...
Phil Munger as Rosencrantz, and Jacob Broder as Guildenstern almost lose control of the fast-moving dialogue. At times the audience cannot keep pace with the bouts of verbal jousting because of inadequate into-national nuance. But they more than compensate with their frenetic motion and lively delivery. Broder especially appears more comfortable with physical rather than vocal acting, and his facial and bodily contortions bring the house down. In particular, his protracted death rattle during Munger's meditations on burial has the audience chortling merrily...
Funny, stimulating, well-written, well-acted: what more could you ask? Winthrop's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern may not be the next Broadway blockbuster, but it provides solid entertainment. If you're suffering from British-wittiness-withdrawl, this show will provide...