Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard we went to see at Sydney Theatre. (Cate Blanchett refers to it as Ros and Gil, so that’s good enough for me).
Major themes of the play include existentialism, free will vs. determinism, the search for value, and the impossibility of certainty. Despite all that hi-falutin nonsense, it’s bloody funny.
Ros and Gil are two minor characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and a little knowledge of Hamlet helps the audience to figure out what’s going on.
The actors were terrific – “superstar comedian/musician” Tim Minchin and Toby Schmitz. This was top class theatre, a very enjoyable evening. It was good to see lots of young people in the audience on this Friday evening. We quite often go to matinees and the seats there are filled with people even older than us.
Tim Minchin made the leap from singer to actor seemingly without any problems at all.
