Wilbury Group to Present Tom Stoppard's ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD Next Month

The Wilbury Theatre Group has announced a production of Tom Stoppard's tragi-comedic masterpiece Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The celebrated playwright's work takes dark and hilarious look at art, life, and the world from the point of view of Hamlet's ill-fated school chums, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Directed by Wilbury Group Artistic Director Josh Short with music by Marc Kaplan, this reimagined production features Joshua Andrews and Patrick Saunders in the titular roles, with David Tessier as the Player.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead runs January 22-February 7 at The Wilbury Theatre Group, 393 Broad Street, Providence RI. Tickets are $20-$25; preview performances just $15. Call 401-400-7100 or order online at thewilburygroup.org.

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.

"Almost fifty years ago a young, unknown playwright named Tom Stoppard combined Hamlet and Waiting for Godot, two of the greatest theatrical works of all time, to give life to two minor characters who'd been overlooked for centuries," says Artistic Director Josh Short. "In doing so, Stoppard created characters who challenge audiences to consider our roles as supporting characters in each other's lives and the very meaning of our existence here on Earth. Though rarely still performed in its entirety, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead still bites with hilarity and our production blows the dust off of Stoppard's work to present audiences with a reinvigorated production that proves it stands the test of time."

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was first staged at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on August 24, 1966, by the Oxford Theatre Group. It premiered in London at the Old Vic on April 11, 1967.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Josh Short

CAST
Patrick Saunders, Guildenstern
Joshua Andrews, Rosencrantz
David Tessier, The Player
Nile Hawver, Hamlet
Julia Bartoletti, Tragedian/Ophelia
Andrea Carlin, Tragedian
Corey Crew, Tragedian/Claudius
Sam Dumas, Alfred
Seth Finkle, Tragedian
Melissa Penick, Tragedian/Gertrude
Stuart Wilson, Tragedian/Polonius

CREW
Scenic Design by Monica Shinn
Light Design by Gerritt Turner
Costume Design by Meg Donnelly
Sound Design by Terry Shea
Projection Design by Adam O'Brien
Music Direction by Marc Kaplan
Stage Management by Polly Feliciano

Production Manager Natalie Brough; Assistant Director Kate Kataja; Percussionist Tom Grace; Fight Choreography by Norman Beauregard; Movement by Shura Baryshnikov

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