Review: ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD and Pondering at Princeton Summer Theater

It's hard to believe it's been fifty years since Tom Stoppard's play, ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD first premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but the absurdist story is as timely as ever in a time when reality is stranger than fiction.

The Princeton Summer Theater's production of the play runs for its final weekend this July 28-31st with 8pm performances Thursday through Saturday, and 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Those keen on pondering Stoppard's lingering questions about life, death, and the eternity that follows will enjoy this young cast's reincarnation of familiar characters tossed into a disjointed waiting game.

Matthew Seely's Hamlet and Jake McCready as Guildenstern are particularly compelling in their roles and carry the demanding wit and pace of Stoppard's language with confident clarity.

Under the artistic guidance of Ogemdi Ude, the season has held true to the theme of focusing on the "outsider" while the theatre and staff, tucked into the intimate Hamilton Murray Theater on Princeton's campus, give audiences a sense of belonging.

Jeff Van Velsor's set design turns a modest space into ships, palaces, and the bleakness that prepares the play's protagonists for the undiscovered country ahead.

ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD runs through July 31. Tickets are $29.50 for general admission, $24.50 for students and matinees. To order tickets, visit http://www.princetonsummertheater.org/tickets or call the PST box office at 1-732-997-0205.

Photo credit: Ogemdi Ude