TOM STOPPARD'S 28-year-old play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, is carried by language. No, that would be an understatement. It's carried by brilliant dialogue, brilliantly delivered by a.k.a. Theatre Company.
It seems David M. Felix and Grayson Norris have been preparing their whole lives to play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet's old chums. They've been summoned to the castle by the king to spy on their buddy because he's been acting a little weird these days. Stoppard turns the most famous play in the world inside out, making Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two relatively insignificant characters in Hamlet, the stars. They spend their time trying to figure out where they are, where they came from, where they're going, and why they're really there in the first place. All of the things left unanswered by Shakespeare.
They roam the wings of Shakespeare's play in an agitated state playing witty word games and waiting to be a part of the action. "All we get are incidents," Rosencrantz bellows. "Is it too much to expect a little sustained action?"
They are stuck in an existential groove, unable to change the script they are barely a part of, which is slowly destroying them. As it turns out, they are simply loose ends. And what do we do with loose ends in a play? Kill them. (I don't think I'm giving anything away here. Even if you've never seen, read, or heard of Hamlet, the name of Stoppard's play may have given you a hint.)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is not hilariously funny, but it is fiercely clever and an acute statement on our ability to control our own fate. It forces us to ask ourselves what we are doing in the place and time and in which we now appear. Are we part of the action, or merely marginal players with no real purpose?
This is not to say that the folks who left at intermission are hopelessly brain-dead. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is not an easy play to get through. By its very nature--two minor characters in a play waiting to perform--the three-hour production is long on words and short on action. You must be at your cerebral best to take it all in.
But in addition to good overall acting, the a.k.a. production is strengthened by Meg Nolan's on-target direction, which keeps the actors moving in front, behind, above and among the audience on Norris' handy, multi-leveled set design.
Felix plays Rosencrantz with child-like innocence. We are immediately drawn to him, and we pity his helpless, anguished state of being.
Norris plays the philosophical Guildenstern perfectly, in kind of a mad mix of control and chaos. Both deliver the demanding dialogue with seeming ease.
As The Player, the leader of the troupe of actors who portend Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's demise, Miles Hindman amusingly adds to the overall potency of the play.
Damion L. Rembert weakly delivers as Hamlet (he needs to be reeled in a bit to get his voice intonations under control), but the character is now relegated to walk-on status anyway, and the play is not marred by the uninspired performance.
With plays like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jerker and Ubu Cocu, a.k.a. Theatre Company brings a unique and much-needed dimension of theatre to Tucson. Due to financial constraints, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead faced last-minute cancellation. After eight years of exciting productions and artistic vision, a.k.a. is in financial distress, and it desperately needs our help to keep its doors open. Please send your contributions to a.k.a. Theatre, P.O. Box 3714, Tucson, AZ 85722. a.k.a. is a non-profit, tax deductible organization, not to mention a good cause.
a.k.a. Theatre Company's production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead continues with performances at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday through February 26. Tickets are $7 with discounts for students, seniors, artists, and a.k.a. Theatre donors. The theatre is located at 125 E. Congress. For reservations and more information call 623-7852.
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