Die of Laughter at Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Published: September 26, 2017 | Author: Ashley H Pollock | Read Time: 2 minutes

SUU College of Performing and Visual Arts’ Theatre Arts & Dance Department will present Tom Stoppard’s comedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead on September 29, October 2, 5, 6, 7, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. at the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for alumni with card, and $5 for youth. SUU faculty, staff, and students can get in free with a valid ID card.

Bailey Smith, graduating Senior from Pullman, Washington, plays one of the title characters, Guildenstern. She said, “This play reflects what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are constantly asking: ‘who are we and what are we doing here?’ Though these two are placed in a particularly absurd situation, it is something that individuals in any given circumstances ask themselves. Audiences can connect to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who really are two sides of the same coin, by experiencing the pair as they try to figure out what's going on.”

Smith went on to say, “Working with our guest director, J.R. Sullivan is a unique opportunity that I have been fortunate enough to take advantage of. He is a professional director currently working in the business. Through his help, I was able to grow as an actor and a professional myself, and glean an in-depth training by creating this show.”

Sullivan is known in the area for his incredible directing work at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Some of his productions include Hamlet, King Lear, Amadeus, Richard III, Stones in His Pockets, The Odd Couple, and The Glass Menagerie.

J.R. Sullivan, former Artistic Director (2002-2009) of the Utah Shakespeare Festival and current director of the production, said, "Working with the SUU cast, crew and design team has been a joy for me. This play, one of Tom Stoppard's very best and his first major success as a playwright, is an extraordinary delve into meaning, purpose, and the always comic human condition of seeking reason in the inescapably absurd. It is a tragicomic backstage look at two minor characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Tom Stoppard turns Shakespeare's tragedy into an inverse of itself, and thus a comedy about two Everyman types who happen to be us as much as they are two nonentities named Rosencrantz and Guildenstern."

Join in the laughter at Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.suu.edu/pva/ta.

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