ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDERNSTERN ARE DEAD FUNNY
Soulpepper’s current production of the Tom Stoppard classic
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is a brilliant tour de force featuring a
flawless ensemble superbly directed by Joseph Zeigler. Taking on Stoppard’s
postmodern musings on two neglected characters from Shakespeare, as well as the
playwright’s relentlessly quirky and hilarious sense of wordplay in one swell
foop, is a formidable task at the best of time’s. In the
hands of Jordan
Pettle and Ted Dykstra the two tile characters come alive with the tragi-comic
grace of a nostalgic, savvy duo reminiscent of everyone from Burns and Allen,
Wayne and Schuster, Rowan and Martin, Lily Tomlin and Goldie Hawn.
Pettle’s Guildenstern acts as a direct, subtle and charming
straight man to Dykstra’s virtuosic breakneck quippage as the delightfully
anxious Rosencrantz. Zeigler has taken care not to fill the stage with too many off the wall funnymen in order to strike a delicate balance that brings forward the philosophic
nuances of plays within plays, audience reception, fourth wall demolition, and
the existentialist plight of undermined under- developed characters.
Shakespeare’s originals have always been a bit of a blur in the Danish disaster
starring that forlon socio-pathic Prince Giblet. Stoppard gives them full-blown
inter-active roles as fleshed out minions in a zany plot of their own design.
Standout performances by William Webster as Polonious and
Kenneth Walsh as the lead Player add an eloquent inter-generational touch to
the ensemble and reveals their immense, layered skill for lending high energy
thespian fanfare and impeccable characterization to supporting roles. Walsh’s
Player is especially complex and vocally tiered as he moves the theatrics
forward with direct and powerful finesse. Webster’s Polonius has some
delightfully shrieky moments that offer up superb contrast as the onstage
activities begin to unravel in relation to the bard’s intensely
dysfunctionalfamilial plot line.
Featuring musical enhancement and evocative sound design by
Mike Ross, with spare elegant sets and costumes by Dana Osborne, in the midst
of beautifully nuanced in-the- round lighting by Kevn Lamotte, this is a
wonderful production of an endlessly entertaining and thought provoking play.
currently running at the Young Centre (Distillery District) through March