{"id":29608,"date":"2024-02-25T01:46:05","date_gmt":"2024-02-25T01:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/monaghan-boyd-astound-in-neptune-theatres-rosencrantz-guildenstern\/"},"modified":"2024-02-25T01:46:05","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T01:46:05","slug":"monaghan-boyd-astound-in-neptune-theatres-rosencrantz-guildenstern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/monaghan-boyd-astound-in-neptune-theatres-rosencrantz-guildenstern\/","title":{"rendered":"Monaghan &amp; Boyd astound in Neptune Theatre\u2019s \u201cRosencrantz &amp; Guildenstern\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">If you were to tell me years ago that one of the biggest draws to Nova Scotia\u2019s premiere regional theatre in 2024 would be a pair of hobbits, I would\u2019ve told you to lay off the pipe-weed. And when Neptune Theatre first announced that Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd would be starring in the modern classic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neptunetheatre.com\/box-office\/rosencrantz-guildenstern-are-dead\" target=\"_blank\">Rosencrantz &amp; Guildenstern Are Dead<\/a>, few could believe it. But the event quickly took the city by storm for a sold-out run, and the hype was absolutely to be believed.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Rosencrantz &amp; Guildenstern Are Dead is the beloved play by iconic playwright Tom Stoppard and is a meta-narrative reflection on two of the seemingly most inconsequential characters in Hamlet. Taking place primarily in a liminal space offstage during the moments in between the action of Hamlet, it follows the inane existential bumblings of the titular pair as they try to navigate their roles in the world of the play. Originally an Edinburgh Fringe production in 1966, this fascinating examination of mortality, existence, and the legendary play itself has held a rabid devotion by the Western theatre for decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">To get the most obvious statement out of the way, Monaghan and Boyd are superb in their performances. There is a conversational ease between them playing off one another that sparks and titillates, giving the energy of a Shakespearean Fry and Laurie. Their humour is effortless, their pace galloping, and their immersion in the transient world unmistakable. Yet despite being masters of the wit and wonder this strange play provides, the stakes and truly weighty significance that arise from their pondering are never far from the surface. Monaghan and Boyd give a class act in absurdism and deliver unanswered questions with stupefying grins.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Neptune\u2019s artistic director Jeremy Webb serves as director for the piece, and you can see the influence of his history as a creator and performer. Rosencrantz &amp; Guildenstern Are Dead is very much an actor\u2019s play, and the vision of this production puts the onus on this captivatingly. From the simplistic set of rotating risers varyingly cloaked in scrim (designed by Andrew Cull), to the mechanics of bodies in space (beautifully orchestrated by movement director Angela Gasparetto) punctuating the scenes of the acting troupe, to the luxuriating in silence and levity in a space where there is nowhere else to go\u2014it all amounts to a spectacle of emotional and intellectual craft.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">A thing of note in the energy of this production was the dichotomy between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and the rest of the characters. There are essentially two worlds to this play: that of Stoppard\u2019s modernist existentialism in the wings and that of Shakespeare\u2019s Hamlet. Boyd and Monaghan assuredly occupy the former with their performances, but even those who share in their scenes\u2014most obviously The Player, played by Michael Blake\u2014all seem to occupy the latter. There is a decidedly \u201cShakespearian\u201d and grand energy to their delivery. And this is not to the detriment of the production, Blake particularly wearing this with a lupine flare. But it does form an interesting bubble around Boyd and Monaghan, underlining the way that these characters feel universally misplaced.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Neptune\u2019s production of Rosencrantz &amp; Guildenstern Are Dead is truly a shining gem across the theatre\u2019s long history. When an event can get non-theatre-goers rushing for tickets, it\u2019s an enlivening thing to see in this day and age. It means all the more when the piece truly does live up to expectations, and Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd truly deliver cerebral magic.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirvish.com\/shows\/rosencrantz-guildenstern-are-dead\" target=\"_blank\">The production tours to Toronto\u2019s Mirvish Theatre from March 5th to 31st.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you were to tell me years ago that one of the biggest draws to Nova Scotia\u2019s premiere regional theatre in 2024 would be a pair of hobbits, I would\u2019ve told you to lay off the pipe-weed. And when Neptune Theatre first announced that Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd would be starring in the modern [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-call-for-artists"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Monaghan &amp; Boyd astound in Neptune Theatre\u2019s \u201cRosencrantz &amp; Guildenstern\u201d - United Arts Agency | UAA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/monaghan-boyd-astound-in-neptune-theatres-rosencrantz-guildenstern\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monaghan &amp; Boyd astound in Neptune Theatre\u2019s \u201cRosencrantz &amp; Guildenstern\u201d - United Arts Agency | UAA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you were to tell me years ago that one of the biggest draws to Nova Scotia\u2019s premiere regional theatre in 2024 would be a pair of hobbits, I would\u2019ve told you to lay off the pipe-weed. 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