Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were two minor characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. With his play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard elevates them to major characters (with witty, modern intellects) and reimagines the plot of Hamlet from their point of view. The play works as intellectual exercise, full of tension as we try to match the new interpretation of events with our memories of the original play. And there are several very funny and very absurd scenes. But the entire construct feels like too much of a one-note gimmick, worth seeing once but not again, and with a narrative that is too episodic. But do see it once if you get the chance.