Sunday, October 14, 2012

Duplicity

It is no secret that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern leave immense possibility in Hamlet. They are the ultimate in sketch, leading us to ask what exactly they are doing in Denmark and how Hamlet was ever friends with them in the first place.Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern" are dead revolves entirely around the missing holes that Shakespeare allows us to fill about these two characters, displaying exactly how much there is to contemplate about them. The LBSC's interpretation of Hamlet was frankly disappointing in the fact that they give us one piece of interest in the two characters, then leaves us hanging without more to contemplate.

When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter the stage, the directors break one of the most observed rules in theater: don't allow the actors to fully keep their backs to the audience. By this unusual twist, the director is telling us "be aware of these characters, they are going to be important". Regardless of the fact that they are on the edge of the stage, they are still our focus because of their placement. One interpretation of not allowing us to see their faces in the beginning is that the director is hinting that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are duplicitous characters. In fact, we never fully see their faces throughout the entire play, only their profiles. The physical hiding of their faces indicates that we never see their true appearances, motives or personalities. They are puppets and actors that only allow us to see what we want to see.

The rest, however, disappointed. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern may have flourishing movements and funny accents, but they are thereafter always kept on the periphery. No other placement of theirs brings them to the forefront of our minds as their original placement. As mentioned, they act as marionettes with kitschy blocking and objectives and no real substance. While we are given much to hope for in the beginning, we are left with a void and a second-hand notice of their death.

1 comment:

  1. Seeing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern was one of the things I was most looking forward to in the play. But they didn't show a close relationship with Hamlet, and that made their deaths inconsequential. I agree with your thoughts on their entrance, though.

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