Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Year
1982 - 1983

Creatives
Director: Els van der Werf

Production Manager: Joke van Wijk

Writer
Tom Stoppard

Synopsis
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, characters originally created by William Shakespeare, are the friends of his tragic hero Hamlet, and operate in the periphery of his tragedy with the same name. Tom Stoppard has made them the central characters of his play; and yet, they are very much outside the action of the play, which is dictated by the plot of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Most of this tragedy happens off-stage, in so far as it happens at all. We first meet Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on their journey to Denmark. They have been summoned to the court at Elsinore by the Danish king Claudius and his queen Gertrude. At their arrival, they are told to find out what is the matter with their friend Hamlet, who has been acting strangely ever since his father's death. From that moment on, the two friends get caught up in something which they cannot control. They do not want to stay, but they are not free to go; they want to act, but they do not know what to do; they want to understand, but they are kept completely in the dark. What we are watching for most of the time is two men waiting for something to happen, passing the time by tossing coins, fabricating arguments, playing verbal games, and chatting alternately about trivialities and about the meaning of life. And all the time they are, as the title reminds us, being carried rapidly towards death. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was first performed by the Oxford Theatre Group as part of the 'fringe' at the Edinburgh Festival in August 1966.

Cast
Heleen Brinkman: Tragedian

Paul Hulsman: Guildenstern

Hans Jansen: Claudius

Jouke Kruijter: Rosencrantz

Wilma van der Mark: Ophelia

Sonrisa Moll: Tragedian

Bert Oosting: Player

Rini Roerig: Tragedian

Jaqueline Schrijver: Gertrude

Wiebe Stuive: Polonius

Fulco Teunissen: Alfred / Soldier

Wim Thommassen: Hamlet

Joke van Wijk: Ophelia

Crew
Freddie Brossois (Sound, Props)

Annelies Dogterom (Costumes)

Gert Egberts (Program Design)

Fokke de Jong (Sounds, Props)

Hanneke Niessink (Costumes)

Pien Rotterdam (Costumes)

Wiebe Stuiver (Prompter)

Adri Ufkes (Costumes)

Roelien Venema (Poster Design)

Performances
April 18th 1983: Kruithuis

April 19th 1983: Kruithuis

Special Thanks
Fred Adam

Maurik Achilles

Fam. van Wijk

Fam. Niessink

Trivia

 * Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead had a review published in Icebreaker, Vol. IX, 5, pp. 29 ff.