‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ is a play written by Tom Stoppard based on two of the most irrelevant characters that Shakespeare wrote into one of his plays. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were friends of Hamlet, who were then sent to their deaths later in the play. However, Stoppard uses the irrelevance of the characters to create two colloquial men that swap from verse to prose, with fast paced dialogue and long monologues, struggling to find their meaning in life.
Both characters are extremely different; Guildenstern is the leader of the group and Rosencrantz is the willing sheep that always seems very unaware of what is happening around him, following Guildenstern’s direction but on odd occasions comes up with theories that outdo Guildenstern’s supposed knowledge. The fast paced language that Stoppard’s uses between the two characters, when they are alone together, makes their relationship seem friendly and open and the two characters act like two sides of the same coin. Due to the fast nature of the play, when re-enacting certain scenes, I had to be very wary of my voice, making sure that I articulated enough to be understood at the same time as speaking quickly enough to keep up the pace, but slow enough to be heard by the audience. This sometimes bode quite a challenge, particularly in scenes when I had to interrupt another actor several times because not only did I have to be vocally aware, but physically aware as well. For me, I felt that Rosencrantz had a slightly more relaxed posture, a slight slouch in his shoulders, to highlight his childlike innocence, easy going attitude and idolisation of Guildenstern. Guildenstern, however, is more of a gentleman, who often professes his own knowledge, giving himself self-importance, often acting up when staging one of his long monologues in front of Rosencrantz. I felt that Guildenstern was a character that needed an audience, whereas Rosencrantz was more accepting of what is going on around him. This...