The rest of the cast are all very good in portraying the other well-known characters from Hamlet and the rest of the acting troupe members. Kenzie Huether is wonderful as the scrappy Leading Player of the performance troupe who presents the play within the play in Hamlet and Cooper Townley is appropriately brooding as Hamlet. The two play off each other extremely well, and they realistically come across as best friends who have known each other forever. Ryszkowski is bright and charming as the simpleton Rosencrantz who delights in the games of chance they play to pass the time and Boisvert is firm and direct as the analytical voice of reason, Guildenstern. Under Claude Pensis' sharp direction, Nicholas Ryszkowski and Nick Boisvert are excellent as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, respectively. Stoppard depicts Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as a cross between the comical duos of such absurdist comedies as Waiting for Godot and such classic clown duos as Laurel and Hardy. As the events in Hamlet take place offstage, with the main characters from that play reduced here to minor characters who occasionally find their way into Stoppard's piece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ponder their place in the world as the plot plays out to the moment when they realize their unfortunate fate. The title comes directly from a line of dialogue late in Hamlet.

The play focuses almost entirely on its two title characters, who were childhood friends of the title character in Shakespeare's Hamlet. With impressive leads and smart direction, it's a solid production of this existentialist comedy. While Tom Stoppard's latest play Leopoldstadt is running on Broadway after winning the 2020 Olivier award for Best New Play, Grand Canyon University is presenting the play that first got Stoppard noticed in 1966, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Also see Gil's recent review of Drinking Habits 2: Caught in the Act

Tom stoppard 1966 play