Video: First Look At Mirvish's ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD

Starring from the Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the title roles of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) in this unique new production created by Halifax’s Neptune Theatre. 

Fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end. Hamlet is turned topsy-turvy in this brilliant modern comedic masterpiece that thrusts Shakespeare’s two minor characters to the forefront with no rules except one: they are destined to die.

Reality and illusion mix as bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are trapped in a universe where their lives are left to chance with the flip of a coin. Can our hapless protagonists triumph in a battle of wits, escape their fate, and make sense of a senseless world?

The story of Hamlet is reimagined in this brilliant comedy that thrusts two minor characters to the forefront.
 
Prince Hamlet has been exiled to England by his treacherous uncle Claudius, who has murdered his brother (Hamlet's father) and crowned himself king. On his way to England in the company of his school friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet discovers they are carrying a letter from King Claudius that commands that Hamlet be put to death when he arrives in England. Hamlet rewrites the letter to command that instead, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern be put to death. He then escapes back to Denmark.
 
The bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are trapped in this absurdist universe where their lives are left to chance with the flip of a coin. 
 
Can our hapless protagonists triumph in a battle of wits, escape their fate, and make sense of a senseless world?
  
This new production will originate at The Neptune Theatre in Halifax, where it will play January 30 to February 25, 2024. It will then travel to Toronto.
 
Directed by Neptune Theatre’s artistic director Jeremy Webb, ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD features Billy Boyd as Guildenstern and Dominic Monaghan as Rosencrantz. The production will also star some of Canada’s most acclaimed actors:  (Michael Blake (The Player), Walter Borden (Polonius), Pasha Ebrahimi (Hamlet), Raquel Duffy(Tragedian, Gertrude), Drew Douris-O'Hara (Tragedian, Alfred), Jacob Sampson (Tragedian, Laertes), Mallory Amirault (Tragedian, Ambassador), Santiago Guzman (Tragedian, Horatio), Helen Belay (Tragedian, Ophelia), Jonathan Ellul (Tragedian, Claudius), and Erin Tancock (Tragedian, Fortinbras).
 
The creative team is comprised of Kaelen MacDonald (Costume Designer), Leigh Ann Vardy (Lighting Designer), Andrew Cull (Set Designer), Angela Gasparetto (Movement Director), DeAnna Choi (Sound Designer & Original Music Composer), Karen Bassett (Fight Director), Robin Munro (Stage Manager), Anna Spencer (Assistant Stage Manager), and Rachel Dawn Woods (Assistant Stage Manager).

PERFORMANCE DETAILS: 

ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD
CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge Street
March 5 – 31, 2024
Tickets available at mirvish.com or by calling 1.800.461.3333.
Tickets from $50

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