Word: guildensterne
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Stoppard, the author of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" and "The Real Thing," delivered the John M. Olin Lecture in Science Center C as part of the Distiguished Lecturer Series. In the past two years, the series has hosted Richard Rodriguez and Miss Manners...
...action has already begun as the audience files in: on a bare stage, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are flipping coins to pass the time. Stoppard has removed them from Hamlet and left them in limbo, without a script or even stage directions. They can't even keep their names straight. Adding to their general disorientation, the coins keep turning up heads, 92 times...
These first moments hint at the high level of invention and energy sustained throughout the show. Watson's grimacing Guildenstern flips his coins from every conceivable angle and contorted stance, while Gelber's Rosencrantz picks up the coins with a flat unquestioning "Heads." In this way, each quickly establishes a distinct personality for his character; the contrast adds spark to their rapid-fire repartee...
Watson plays Guildenstern as a frustrated intellectual, spinning out syllogisms and setting up models in hope of discovering significance in the larger scheme of life. Gelber's Rosencrantz is more at ease making feeble, hilariously incongruent conversation...
...MOST PART, the two wait for clues. When they are not jumping into the scenes where Shakespeare gave them a few lines, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern speculate upon their own missing motivations and memories, and pounce upon anyone or anything that might set them straight...