UCLU Drama Society poster

It’s complicated, but bear with me. Here are some concentric circles of theatre: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead  is a 1966 play by Tom Stoppard. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters from The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (but you can just call it Hamlet because everyone does) written somewhere between 1599 and 1602, maybe.

From 20 February to 22 February, the UCLU Drama Society performed a production of the play by Stoppard containing the elements of Hamlet as they appear in both original texts, but adapted and modernised to an extent, appearing without full Elizabethan costumes or set.

Amid these elements, the direction of Rob Beale found something that approached a fresh take on representing the void at the heart of the play.  (more…)