![]() The absurdist tradition that Stoppard is writing in suggests another enormous influence: Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1952). Written around and in-between the lines of Shakespeare's play, Stoppard brilliantly takes the main concerns of contemporary theater – absurdism, the inevitability of death, breakdown in communication and feeling – and inserts them into the text of a much earlier play. Stoppard's play turns Hamlet on its head by giving these two the main roles and reducing all of Shakespeare's major characters (including Hamlet) to minor roles. The Laurel-and-Hardy-like pair are totally incidental to the action of Hamlet, subject to the whims of the King Claudius – who gets them to betray Hamlet – and then tricked by Hamlet into delivering a letter that condemns them to death (check out the Shmoop's guide to Hamlet it's useful to know the basic plot). The play cleverly re-interprets Shakespeare's Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Though written in 1964, the play was published in 1967, and it played on Broadway in 1968, where it won the Tony for best play. It was a huge critical and commercial success, making him famous practically overnight. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was Tom Stoppard's breakthrough play. ![]() ![]() Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Introduction ![]()
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