Review: Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

NT Live broadcast from The Old Vic Tom Stoppard's play Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead in cinemas around the country on the 20th of April 2017. Daniel Radcliff and Joshua McGuire are two minor characters from Hamlet who are barely able to understand their part in the action. Through them we see the story of Hamlet, sometimes seep in, sometimes sneak in and sometimes explode onto the stage in bizarre situations and comic scenes.

NT Live: Why?

If bringing theatre to the masses is the remit, NT Live has succeeded as far as I'm concerned. NT Live has certainly meant that I have been able to experience more live theatre. For the price of a cinema ticket I am able to go to my local cinema and see a West End play. And if I appreciate this, not just from the perspective of cost but because it takes me 20 minutes to go to the cinema but up to two hours to get to the theatre, then I would imagine those who don't live in London appreciate it even more.

The Play

Tom Stoppard's play on reading it, promises surreal comedy which is hard sometimes to elicit from the page. On the stage however, in the hands of Radcliff and McGuire we see what it was all about.  The ridiculous antics of the comic pairing is laugh out loud funny. Laurel and Hardy. The two Ronnies. Fry and Laurie. Whatever era you remember best. A brilliant mixture of slapstick, wit and social commentary. David Haig is the icing on the theatrical cake.

West India Quay Cineworld

One consideration with regard to cinema screening is that 2 out of the last 5 productions at the West India Quay cinema have had technical hitches, losing sound on one occasion and at this screening losing the correct aspect ratio. Radcliff and McGuire with distorted proportions, looked like hobbits with short torsos and long feet and when they stretched out a hand or arm seemed to reach to the other side of the stage which luckily added to the comic effect and only for the first twenty minutes.

Next Screening?

Jude Law in Obsession, live from the Barbican Theatre on May 11th.  

As You Like It

'All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts'

(Shakespeare, As You Like It)

This stage can be expensive. Firstly just as in all the costs of living a life and meeting basic physiological and safety needs but even more so if we want to attain any of the higher needs which Maslow purports to be motivating factors in our development and our striving to achieve self-actualisation (1943).

In the last month I've been to the theatre three times. Not surprising considering I am living in London. However, the cost to many, including myself can be prohibitive so this is unusual for me. This is how it happened:

1. The Curious incident of The Dog in the Night Time: A matinee on a Thursday = £15 with a partial restricted view but as there were many empty seats we moved to a better more central view.

2. Wicked: Brought a group of 8 young people for £5 each courtesy of Mousetrap, an organization keen to promote the theatre with you people.

3. The Book of Mormon: Turned up at the theatre at 12 midday, wrote my contact details on a slip of paper to enter a draw and at 1230 my name was called and I was able to purchase a pair of £100+ tickets for £20 each and sat in the stalls - row A (and that cost me nil, as my friend got the tickets for my birthday).

The theatre continues to be elitist but such opportunities as those above do offer an inroad as well as free open air theatre at such venues as The Scoop. Does this let 'theatre' off the hook? Does this make it accessible? 

No, because however much theatre provides 'food for thought', if someone is hungry, food is still the most immediate answer. 

Yes, theatre is enjoyable, educational and can shine a light of hope and understanding. Whether it is in teaching us about the mind of someone with Aspergers or giving a new spin to the Wizard of Oz tale and our perceptions of 'good' and 'evil' or questioning religious institutional fundamentalism while getting to know the struggles and triumphs of non-conforming individuals.

Shakespeare's plays are studied by students all over the country on paper and perhaps never seen the way they were meant to be seen, at the theatre. And although theatre prices can be prohibitive, Shakespeare's  Globe has stuck to its promise to bring Shakespeare to the masses by keeping 700 tickets per performance at £5 each. And although they are standing in the Yard, they are how most would have seen the play in Shakespeare's time and they have the best view. So it could be said that the best seats in the house are standing.

If we are, in our time, to play many parts, we may on occasion get to play the part of the theatre-goer, but perhaps the cinema and in its turn the TV and internet have filled that void. Whether we see the story acted out in a play, on the cinema screen,  our TV or tablet, we are learning from the story. We may read the story in a book or graphic novel or hear it round the fire or in a conversation, all we have to do is engage. Our lives - our stories. As Shakespeare said - 'All the world's a stage'.