Emily VanGorder – Staff Writer

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is a metatheater production which follows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor supporting characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, on their side journey and experiences behind the scenes of the original play.

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ is… about the characters and how they perceive what is happening in Hamlet and realizing there are just means to an end, while also questioning what theater is and a bunch of other crazy existential madness.”
– Albright

Throughout the performance, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern can be seen interacting with characters like Hamlet and Ophelia, but this production is all about them.
Junior Sam Albright plays Rosencrantz, who he describes as a character who goes with the flow and doesn’t question much. On the other hand, Guildenstern, who is portrayed by Sophomore Sam Peters, is more analytical and naturally curious.
“One of the challenges of the character was balancing his abstract philosophical curiosity with the sense of urgency and desperation that motivates him to find answers in the universe… It was enormously fun to explore the hopes and anxieties of his characters and bring them to life,” Peters said.
Despite these seemingly polar differences, the two characters are ultimately very similar.
“The joke is that no one can really tell our characters apart, so finding a balance between being different from Sam Peters while still being able to be similar was interesting,” Albright said.
In addition to being a play within a play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead deals with many philosophical and theoretical questions, such as the nature of fate, the existence of free will, and whether certain things are unavoidable or predestined, and does so with a healthy dose of humor and banter.
“I found it an intriguing subject to explore. Guildenstern is bothered by the apparent chaos of life, and his searches for underlying patterns and meanings only raise more questions. I think most of us can relate to this struggle during this moment… Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are subject to a fate that seems illogical and pointless, yet they have no capacity to change their situation. It’s thought provoking, insightful, and hilarious, and I hope that the audience will appreciate the deep messages that are nestled underneath the layers of humor and wit,” Peters said.

“It’s thought provoking, insightful, and hilarious, and I hope that the audience will appreciate the deep messages that are nestled underneath the layers of humor and wit.”
-Peters

In order for the performance to be COVID-19- friendly, the play has been filmed rather than being performed in front of a live audience, and will premiere on YouTube on Saturday, February 27. Though the play was chosen before COVID-19 became a reality, the writer Tom Stoppert also created a movie version of his play, which helped inform the decision to film the performance.
Filming began almost immediately over J-term and actors had minimal time to block scenes and rehearse before shooting.
“Directing and acting for the stage are really quite different from directing and acting for video. Usually, we rehearse, develop characters, deepen meaning and work on sustaining the performance and reaching the audience. In film, you have to have everything that usually takes all semester ready to go up front, so that you have it ready to film and the videographer has time to edit. There’s an extra step now between me and the audience, which is how it was shot and edited… I had to adapt and figure out different ways of working with it,” Director and Professor in Theatre and Dance Amy Seham said.

“There’s an extra step now between me and the audience, which is how it was shot and edited… I had to adapt and figure out different ways of working with it.”
-Seaham

“Filmed performance also requires much more subtlety than stage acting, so I had to rethink my usual approach and adopt a more naturalistic style. Filming the scenes individually over the span of a month also made it more difficult to stay ‘in the moment’ and maintain a cohesive sense of the play’s story arc, but it became easier over time,” Peters said.
However, the filmed performance also allowed for more creative staging and editing, like using greenscreens and following Rosencrantz and Guildenstern around the theater building as they make their way to the stage, which is where the characters from Hamlet are.
“The actors all worked incredibly hard to get this done over J-Term in the midst of COVID-19. I’m very proud of the company of students that pulled this off,” Seham said.
Watch Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Saturday, February 27 at 7 p.m. or on Sunday, February 28 at 3 p.m. at gustavus.edu/theatre-dance.