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Neighbor News

Hamlet/ Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Two shows. One cast. Playing in rep at The Bijou Theatre this weekend!

Hamlet, son of the king of Denmark, is summoned home for his father’s funeral and his mother’s wedding to his uncle. In a supernatural episode, he discovers that his uncle, whom he hates anyway, murdered his father. In an incredibly convoluted plot–the most complicated and most interesting in all literature–he manages to (impossible to put this in exact order) feign (or perhaps not to feign) madness, murder the “prime minister,” love and then unlove an innocent whom he drives to madness, plot and then unplot against the uncle, direct a play within a play, successfully conspire against the lives of two well-meaning friends, and finally take his revenge on the uncle, but only at the cost of almost every life on stage, including his own and his mother’s.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead concerns the misadventures and musings of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet who are childhood friends of the prince, focusing on their actions with the events of Hamlet as background. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is structured as the inverse of Hamlet; the title characters are the leads, not supporting players, and Hamlet himself has only a small part. The duo appears on stage here when they are off-stage in Shakespeare’s play, with the exception of a few short scenes in which the dramatic events of both plays coincide. In Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are used by the King in an attempt to discover Hamlet’s motives and to plot against him. Hamlet, however, mocks them derisively and outwits them, so that they, rather than he, are executed in the end. Thus, from Rosencrantz’s and Guildenstern’s perspective, the action in Hamlet is largely nonsensical and comical.

Hamlet/Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Schedule:

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Fri 5/15/15- 8pm HamletSat 5/16/15- 4pm Hamlet; 8pm RosencrantzSun 5/17/15- 3pm Rosencrantz; 7pm HamletFri 5/22/15- 8pm RosencrantzSat 5/23/15- 4pm Rosencrantz; 8pm HamletSun 5/24/15- 3pm Hamlet; 7pm Rosencrantz

Table Seats: $28; Theatre Seats: $23; Student Seats: $18

Find out what's happening in Windsorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Doors open one hour prior to showtime.

WAIT! ARE YOU PURCHASING TICKETS FOR BOTH SHOWS? CALL THE BOX OFFICE (203)332-3228 OR SEE OFFER ON PREVIOUS PAGE TO RECEIVE $10 OFF YOUR TICKET PRICE WHEN YOU BUY TICKETS TO BOTH HAMLET AND R&G.

For tickets call the box office at 203-332-3228 or visit thebijoutheatre.com.

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