A play in three acts by Tom Stoppard
Rosencrantz — Jamie Taylor
Guildenstern — Shayla Hudson
Player — Daniela Piccinin
Hamlet — David Sivak
Gertrude — Marcela Garzaro
Claudius — Allison Still
Polonius — Allyson Johnston
Ophelia — Alex Urbano
and featuring as the Tragedians
Alex Alejandria, Howl the Beatnik, Bill Dileva,
Craig Gloster, Allyson Johnston, Roula Khayat,
Jaz Morneau, Alex Urbano, Mary Grace Weir
Director’s Note: Widely admired and awarded, R & G Are Dead is an especially challenging piece of 20th century absurdist theatre. It’s a buddy comedy about the offstage existential crises of two doomed characters in William Shakespeare’s most famous play; two minor role-players fated eternally to pop in and out of existence and repeat the same ludicrous story again and again – namely the plot of Hamlet, in which they and nearly everyone else (including the play’s navel-gazing hero) famously end up dead.
Familiarity with Hamlet is helpful in understanding R&G. The play is intertextual; “in dialogue with” Shakespeare’s masterpiece – the way East of Eden relies on the Bible or Aliens relies on Alien. Luckily the play isn’t only about Hamlet and Shakespeare, but Western theatre and philosophical traditions more broadly and English absurdist comedy of the late 1960s specifically.
Stoppard and the Monty Python lads shared lofty sensibilities and madcap pacing which shines through this humble production from its brilliant cast. Scenes range widely (often in the same page) from philosophical ruminations on the nature of free will to vaudeville-inspired low-comedy riffs to rival Abbott & Costello or Dumb & Dumber. It is, as other artifacts of the late 60s would say, a Real Trip. Good Luck and Godspeed.
Tap here for a synopsis of Hamlet from The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Tap here for a biography of Tom Stoppard from Brittanica
Directed and produced by Martin Ouellette
Costumes (and occasional Ophelia) by Carly Morrison-Hart
Special thanks to Korda Artistic Productions and WECAP for use of select costume and set pieces
Additional thanks to Nancy Nosanchuk, Janet & Ken Ouellette, and all of our return patrons
There will be two ten-minute intermissions. The approximate runtime with intermissions is 130 minutes.
Bloomsbury House 