“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” Streaming at Orcas Center

Thursday, April 20, 7:30 p.m., Orcas Center

— from Susannah Weaver —

The National Theatre production of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” is broadcast live to Orcas Center Thursday, Apr. 20 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are very scarce for the production, broadcast live from the Old Vic Theatre in London – so for many the only way to see it now is via the NT Live broadcast.

Daniel Radcliffe (“Harry Potter”), Joshua McGuire (“The Hour”) and David Haig (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “The Witness for the Prosecution”) star in Tom Stoppard’s brilliantly funny situation comedy. Stoppard is a well-known twentieth-century British playwright whose absurdist tragicomedy pays homage to Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett. David Leveaux’s new production marks the 50th anniversary of the play that made a young Tom Stoppard’s name famous overnight.

Radcliffe gives a highly acclaimed performance alongside the brilliant McGuire; together they make a brilliant double act as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Against the backdrop of Hamlet, two hapless minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, take centre stage.  As the young players stumble through the action of Shakespeare’s iconic drama, they become increasingly out of their depth.

“The Hollywood Reporter” says, “The themes bubbling beneath Stoppard’s existential scenario — not least his reflections on life itself as acting, and on the elusive nature of truth — have great resonance in the age of Donald Trump, Brexit, fake news and a growing disconnect between politicians and what might be called their audience. When a character declares that ‘truth is only that which is taken to be true,’ the sentiment could have been written today.”

Tickets for NT Live’s” Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” are $20, $15 for students, $2 off for Orcas Center members, and may be purchased at www.orcascenter.org or by calling 376-2281 ext. 1 or visiting the Orcas Center Box Office open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12-2 p.m. $5 subsidized tickets available at the Box Office. For more information about Orcas Center’s 2017 season visit www.orcascenter.org.