Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - a review of sorts
Right this may get a bit garbled as I’ve just met Dan and he was totally lovely. I’ll start with the stage door - in reality there is no stage door. As you exit the theatre, there’s a sign for the returns queue. I vaguely heard one of the doormen mention that this was the queue to meet Dan so ended up just standing there, was about 4th in the line. Only waited about 20 minutes. Basically they let you in as a group and you must have a have a ticket for that nights show.
Dan came to me first, and we were both awkward turtles because I had my program in one hand and my phone in the other so we did a handshake dance before we actually shook hands and I said I really enjoyed the play. He said the audience was brilliant tonight as they seemed to “get” the play - he said it took him a few reads to understand it. I asked for a pic and he asked me if I would like him to take it, so he took my phone and took a couple of pics. Put my hand around his back (warm and tiny) then felt awkward. I then asked if he could sign my program and he asked if I had a pen. Thus I told him off as I’d told people outside he’d have his own pen so he asked his bodyguard Steve if he had one. He signed said program then moved on. I took a quick pic then felt a bit awkward just standing there gawping at him so left.
I thanked one of the door men as I left because it was honestly the best experience. To be able to meet Dan in a calm environment without being pushed and him being shouted at by moronic autograph hunters was just lovely.
Firstly Dan; superficially, he looks gorgeous in his doublet. He’s rocking some fluffy, spikey hair and the stubble is looking well maintained. He has amazing on stage chemistry with Josh McGuire and they make a perfect double act. It was quite something to hear them go back and forth in some of the scenes with such ease! Rosencrantz is a bit of an idiot so Dan spends a lot of the first act looking confused, which is in keeping with his character. As has been said before, he’s a brilliant listener and reacts to everything around him. He really shows off his comic timing in this too. He does have the less showy part but he got plenty of laughs at the right moments. My only critism would be that he take his time, he tends to rush through some of his lines which is fine in places because of the fast paced dialogue but at other times I think he needs to calm down just a little bit.
Josh is a fabulous counterpart to Dan. He’s a brilliant performer and again has excellent comic timing. His curls are a thing of wonder and I should very much like to bounce them. Would love to see him in more things and hope this won’t be the last time he and Dan work together.
David Haig is also brilliant. Incredibly dynamic performer and I’m really glad he was cast in this. He works really well with Dan and Josh. I should mention the costume design again here because David’s look is really cool. Dirty white vest with a red ringmaster’s jacket and lots of cool looking tattoos. He also has a pipe in a couple of scenes and he lights his match on his boots which was badass.
Other notables were Alfred, bless him. And the music was pretty cool, live saxophone, violin, etc. Didn’t quite get why Hamlet was in modern clothes when everyone else was in vintage. Hey ho.
Can’t remember much else but feel free to ask questions.
I’m seeing it again tonight so if you want me to keep an eye out for certain bits, let me know!
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