By Willow Dawn Becker
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, an Absurdist tour de force from writer Tom Stoppard, may not be the typical style of theater Provo audiences are accustomed to, but BYU Arts amps up the laughs and tragedy to make it accessible for everyone.
When it originally appeared on stage in 1966 during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead became thoroughly entwined with the fame and infamy of other Absurdist shows like Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello. Theater critic Martin Esslin was the first to put a name to the genre in 1960, stating that: “Absurd[ism] is that which is devoid of purpose. . .Cut off from his religious, metaphysical, and transcendental roots, man is lost; all his actions become senseless, absurd, useless.” In production, shows such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead explored themes that melted the boundaries between performers and audience members, explored the concepts of life and death, and built on-stage studies of existentialism—the concept that true reality consists only of the here and now—and forced audiences into discomfort to make them aware of their own existential nature.
Buckley’s Guildenstern is quick-witted, fast-talking, and emotionally raw, moving from perceived emergency to perceived horror so starkly and needlessly that the audience can’t help but laugh. This plays perfectly against Shearer’s (Rosencrantz), dancing each entrance with careless grace and wearing a goofy grin in even the most horrifying circumstances. Together, they act as one entity, as is required for a play in which even the characters themselves don’t know which part they are playing. The timing between Shearer and Buckley is impeccable, and this fact is made even more absurd by the long stretches where they “waste” their stage time playing games or simply waiting for the next important character to come on stage.
Historically, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is one of the most generally accessible and pleasant of these theater experiences, and BYU takes full advantage of both the show’s hilarity and tragedy. The play follows two small characters from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Rosencrantz (Sten Shearer) and Guildenstern (Ian Buckley), who are unwitting plot devices doomed to certain death. The knowledge the audience has of their eventual demise gives their movements and lines a weight that is made comically tragic and ultimately absurd by their philosophizing and time-wasting strategies.
Since the play is focused on the private lives of the characters making up the loosest of plot threads, it comes as no surprise that the secondary lead is simply called The Player (Esther Pielstick). Pielstick is exuberant as almost a caricature of Elizabethan actors, her physicality matched only by her vocal range. She acts as liaison between the action on stage and the audience, often referencing the viewer directly and hinting to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of their coming and unavoidable death.
One of the other absurd elements of the play is the absurdly large cast, considering that out of 30, only 3 characters besides Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and The Player have more than a handful of lines, with few exceptions. Caleb Brown makes an excellent Hamlet, and is both calculating and vulnerable, his honest performance a good backdrop for the absurdity of the show’s large content. His co-stars in the “traditional” segments are no less believable, with Alex Glover as a steel-hearted, physically imposing Claudius and Courtney Moreland as a stoic and sometimes violent Gertrude. Olivia Ockey moves like water across the stage as Ophelia, and makes the most of her few lines, filling them with passion and despair. Laertes (Ty Hawton) has no lines at all, yet is able to keep audiences’ attention rapt when he’s onstage, his disaffected disdain palpable from even the back row. Michael Baliff plays Polonius as oily and wheedling, but without melodrama—just enough to keep the audience thinking that he possibly deserves his fate. And Max Wright (Horatio) and
Richard Means (Fortinbras) make use of their excellent pantomime and physical acting skills to make up for the soliloquies that they never get to perform.
The rest of the cast is cohesive and engaging, with excellent performances all around. Some of the best bits are developed by the acting troupe players, who easily flip from underfed lackeys to royalty in the blink of an eye. A notable performance is from Garret Rushford, his big personality bringing laughs with every piece of physical comedy.
Finally, the performer that tends to draw the eye is a completely unnamed character—Alfred, played by Hannah Staley Foster. Her place in the performance is unclear, though she is a part of the theatrical troupe hired by Claudius at Hamlet’s request. Still, there is something very human and genuine about Foster’s performance, reality hanging on her few lines and final tableau as thickly as absurdity hangs on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s.
The show is enhanced by the cleverly designed flat backdrops and multi-purpose stage designed by Michael S. Kraczek and beautiful lighting designed by Michael G. Handley, which gave a surreal, technicolor effect to several scenes of the show. Costumes (designed by Courteney Shipley) and makeup (Colleen Ackerman) are also attractive, though not overly realistic, as per the theme of art vs. reality that pervades the entire production.
The vision, directed by Reese Purser, is expertly executed by the entire technical and theatrical staff, allowing enough realism for the audience to feel comfortable and enough non-sequiturs and impossibilities to bring them out of the traditional narrative in true Absurdist style. It leaves the audience considering the value of choices, the impact of fate, and the importance of “now” as a means for happiness, regardless of what comes next.
BYU Arts presents Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. Pardoe Theater, Frankin S. Harris Fine Arts Center, 800 E Campus Dr, Provo, UT 84602
March 8-9, 12-16, 20-23, 7:30 PM, March 9, 16, 2:00 PM, 2019
Tickets: $12-16 www.BYUtickets.com
Contact: 801-422-BYU1(2981)
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