Staff Pick
Follow Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Hamlet, as they live through the events of the play. However, from the first scene, it is clear that what they're experiencing is not quite reality... after all, what are the odds of a coin landing heads-up ninety-two times in a row?
Witty, bittersweet, and strange, this play is a breathtaking reflection on art and storytelling — as well as one of the most brilliantly surreal pieces of literature out there. Despite the gargantuan shadow that its source material casts, Stoppard's play is iconic in its own right. Recommended By Edme G., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Acclaimed as a modern dramatic masterpiece, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead is the fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worms-eve view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeares play. In Tom Stoppards best-known work, this Shakespearean Laurel and Hardy finally get a chance to take the lead role, but do so in a world where echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, where reality and illusion intermix, and where fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end.
Tom Stoppard was catapulted into the front ranks of modem playwrights overnight when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead opened in London in 1967. Its subsequent run in New York brought it the same enthusiastic acclaim, and the play has since been performed numerous times in the major theatrical centers of the world. It has won top honors for play and playwright in a poll of London Theater critics, and in its printed form it was chosen one of the Notable Books of 1967” by the American Library Association.
Review
"This is a most remarkable play. Very funny. Very brilliant. Very chilling." New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
Acclaimed as a modern dramatic masterpiece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is the fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worm's-eye view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare's play. In Tom Stoppard's best-known work, this Shakespearean Laurel and Hardy finally get a chance to take the lead role, but do so in a world where echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, where reality and illusion intermix, and where fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end.
Synopsis
A new, beautiful updated edition of Tom Stoppard's best-loved play and one of Grove Atlantic's bestselling backlist titles, published with a new introduction by Tom Stoppard to coincide with the 50th anniversary of its debutRosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is one of the most enduring and frequently performed plays of contemporary theater and has firmly established itself in the dramatic canon. Acclaimed as a modern masterpiece, it is the fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worm's-eye view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare's play. In Tom Stoppard's best-known work, this Shakespearean Laurel and Hardy finally get a chance to take the lead role, but do so in a world where echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, where reality and illusion intermix, and where fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end. Revised and reissued to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the play's first performance, this definitive edition includes a new introduction and previously unpublished ancillary material.
About the Author
Sir Tom Stoppard is a British playwright. Born in Czechoslovakia, he is famous for plays such as The Real Thing and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and for the screenplay for Shakespeare in Love.