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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Tom Stoppard's play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" is at least as puzzling as an examined theatrical life and a frequently a good deal funnier. Detour Productions and the Bloomington Area Arts Council's production, directed by Mike Price, plays at the Waldron.

Dramatist Stoppard is a brilliant playwright. He has a wonderful feel for the whole history of theatre, an exceptional way with character, an uncanny grasp of dramatic structure and a deep knowledge of Shakespeare. Verbal games abound and sometimes they are almost frustrating. Some might even say that Stoppard is too smart, at least by half.

In the Detour production Steven Heise was an especially winsome Rosencrantz. Joe Gaines, by contrast, was especially wooden as Guildenstern. The roving band of tragedians were expertly led by the riveting Mark McIntyre as the player and Nile Arena was delightful as the hapless juvenile, Alfred.

Frank Buczolich lent heft to the role of Claudius with good accounts from Meredith Helderman as his blooming Gertrude, Stephanie Harrison as his saddened daughter Ophelia and Frank Morris as the foolish old courtieur Polonius. Keyboard player Tim Best lent antmospher and occasionally underlined dramatic points.

Throughout "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern..." there's an active and shifting intellectual dialog. There are questions about probablility, about scientific inquiry, the nature of reality, the meaning of history and, even, the meaning of meaning. Although Stoppard sometimes seems to delight in frustrating characters and audience, the exploration is frequently funny and under Mike Price's direction there is plenty of physical comedy to balance the verbiage. In Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Hamlet talks to Horatio of things outside of philosophy. In Stoppard's work everything seems to be inside philosophy.

The BAAC/Detour Productions performances of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" plays tonight and Saturday night at eight and Sunday at three at the Waldron Arts Center.

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