Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Alive and Well at the Huntington Theatre

By Michele Markarian

“Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead” – Written by Tom Stoppard. Directed by Peter DuBois. Scenic Design by Wilson Chin; Sound Design and Original Music by Obadiah Eaves; Costume Design by Ilona Somogyi; Lighting Design by David Lander; Projection Design by Zachary Borovay. Presented by Huntington Theatre Company, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston through October 20.

“What do you think happens to them?” teased my theater companion at the first intermission of Tom Stoppard’s very funny, very imaginative fill-in-the-blanks back story of Shakespeare’s Hamlet’s university friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. At the risk of sounding obtuse, even though I have seen and read “Hamlet” many times, the writing, acting and direction in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” at the Huntington Theatre are so in the moment that I was, for a moment, not sure.

Rosencrantz (Alex Hurt) and Guildenstern (Jeremy Webb) are somewhat aimlessly wandering, while playing a game of coin toss in which the coin repeatedly comes up heads. “What do you want to do?” asks one to the other, who responds with “I have no desires, now.”  Regardless of this, they have been awakened that morning and summoned to Elsinore, the palace, where their childhood friend, Hamlet (Brian Lee Huynh), is rumored to be behaving erratically. Claudius (Ed Hoopman), his uncle and stepfather, is hoping Hamlet’s old friends can coax him into telling them what ails him. But when Hamlet’s mother Gertrude (Melinda Lopez) beseeches them to press her son for more information, Rosencrantz panics, feeling death’s presence. “The only beginning is birth, the only ending is death,” Guildenstern tells him in a manner that’s meant to be reassuring.

On the way to the castle, the pair meet up with a company of actors, the Tragedians, led by Player (Will LeBow). The actors turn up later at Elsinore, to perform a play that Hamlet has consigned. Despite spending time with their friend, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fret that they haven’t really gotten to the bottom of his despair at all, and in a very funny scene, role play; one pretends to be Hamlet while the other asks questions. In the background, real scenes from Hamlet are cleverly taking place – Ophelia (Meghan Leathers) twirls madly through the palace, Polonius (Ken Cheeseman) attempts to reason with Hamlet, and Ophelia and Hamlet argue.  Claudius, after witnessing Hamlet’s play, sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to England, with Hamlet as their hostage. They carry a letter to the King, ordering Hamlet’s execution.  As they sleep, Hamlet turns the tables on them.

The juxtaposition between what we know to be Shakespeare’s tragedy and the meandering innocence of his friends is what makes the play so funny. Stoppard is a master of dialogue, and the repartee between the title characters is solid and quick. It helps to have actors as skilled as Hurt and Webb, two sides of the same coin. Both men have terrific presence as well as a grasp of language, and manage to play off one another in a way that’s sweetly codependent. Huynh’s Hamlet is strong and full of purpose, not the usual mopey guy one usually associates with the role.  There are some very funny scenes with the Tragedians, notably Laura Latreille, in a non-verbal role. It is LeBow, however, who steals the show. His unflappable, larger-than-life Actor commands the stage in such a way that makes everything else seem very small. “We’re actors.  We’re the opposite of people,” he declares, which makes you believe, unlike the two title characters, that he is actually the master of his own fate.

Wilson Chin’s scenic design is wonderful, from the forest of the first act, to the multi-layered palace of the second, and the ship with its low hanging moon, which diminishes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as victims of fate, in the third. Obadiah Eaves’s original music is haunting and beautiful; later, on the T, I heard someone with a program from the show humming one of the melodies. DuBois’s direction keeps the action moving at a brisk pace, even at three hours long.  My friend, who cautioned me that she wasn’t feeling well and may have to leave after one of the intermissions, just couldn’t – she was hooked.  You will be, too. For tickets and information, go to: https://www.huntingtontheatre.org/