"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"

Absurdist Comedy "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"

Tom Stoppard's acclaimed absurdist tragicomedy "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" turns the focus on the lives and limited adventures of the doomed courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters from Shakespeare's "Hamlet". The pair has been summoned to Elsinore by the king. Their purpose: to glean what afflicts Hamlet. Their fabulously inventive, existentialist journey unfolds in this Onomatopoeia Theatre Company production at New York's Gene Frankel Theatre. The intrepid, if somewhat bewildered, travelers set off on their quest, meeting a ragtag group of players along the way. Unsure of both the game and the rules, the until-now-unsung heroes are destined for a more chilling end. Filled with the playwright's signature witty repartee and slapstick comedy, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1968.