...and coming to the Library Theatre in Manchester in February. I dearly love this play. Seeing Shakespeare from the back, as it were - for those who don't know it, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two characters in a Shakespearian play that get about 10 lines throughout the who thing, but get the final mention after everyone else has died tragically, when a messenger comes in and pronounces (effectively) "...Oh and by the way...Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead". Stoppard clearly thought these characters were somewhat overlooked so he decided to give them their own play where they stumble around in the background as Hamlet goes on, thoroughly confused, and basically just kill time until their untimely demise. It is comedy, tragedy, and philosphy - a great tale. I adore the fact that real bits of the play are woven seamlessly into more contemporary bits. And of course the film with Tim Roth and Gary Oldman seriously affected my youth - I was playing 'Questions' all through University and irritating the tits off everyone.
(From the film) <Ros and Guil have found an abandoned tennis court and stand facing each other across the tennis net>
Rosencrantz: Do you want to play questions?
Guildenstern: Questions? How do you play that?
Rosencrantz: You have to ask questions.
Guildenstern: <looks smug> Statement! One... love.
Rosencrantz: Cheating!
Guildenstern: How?
Rosencrantz: I hadn't started yet.
Guildenstern: <looks even more smug> Statement! Two... love.
Rosencrantz: Are you counting that?
Guildenstern: What?
Rosencrantz: Are you counting that?
Guildenstern: Foul! No repetitions. Three... love and game.
Rosencrantz: ...<pouting> I'm not going to play if you're going to be like that....
Of course it has its slapstick moments, but it also has some pretty lovely speeches in it as well. The top dog of these - and apparently the single paragraph that made Gary Oldman not just want to do the part, but effectively also do it for no money and pay his own plane fare over to the set, was this one:-
"Whatever became of the moment when one first knew about death? There must have been one, a moment, in childhood, when it first occurred to you that you don't go on forever. It must have been shattering stamped into one's memory. And yet I can't remember it. It never occurred to me at all. We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the word for it, before we know that there are words,out we come, bloodied and squalling...with the knowledge that for all the points of the compass, there's only one direction and time is its only measure...."
Of course its all very well going on at you about this thing, but I better get my ass into gear and book it pronto else I'd miss the good seats. Excuse me will you....
