Our production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was originally scheduled for October 2024. Sadly, the good old British weather had other ideas. The play’s run had to be cancelled just two weeks before the opening night, after torrential rain caused extensive damage to the theatre’s roof. Fortunately most of the original cast members have been able to return and finally bring this brilliant play to the EAT stage.

Its title characters Rosencrantz, played by Ben Donovan, and Guildenstern, Samuel Champ, rarely leave the stage.  With their quickfire bickering and banter, they’re a great comedy double act. When they meet a group of travelling actors, they meet their nemesis in the Leading Player, played by Martin Gilby, and find themselves drawn into the action scenes from Hamlet. Chaos ensues.

Here, Ben, Sam and Martin give us a little bit of insight into their characters and the play.

First off, let’s hear about their characters.

Ben: Rosencrantz is definitely the more light-hearted of the duo. He displays naive attributes sometimes and although he does at times question the duo’s motives and narrative, he’s generally quite happy to go with the flow.

Sam: Guildenstern is very much a logic-orientated character. He likes to think everything through and to understand where he is, and why he’s there. I think it would be fair to say that the ‘why’ is something he constantly tries to determine in order to find out what his and Rosencrantz’s purpose is in it all. 

Martin: The Player should be the title character of both this play and the other long-winded one about the moody Danish prince!!! He’s an old school (1601) Actor-Manager/Artistic Director of a company of actor-musicians, by Royal Appointment to the Royal Court of Denmark. Brash, self-confident but a bit thin-skinned: he loses it when the two young Herberts they meet on the way to Elsinore cheat them out of what little money they had and then run off without watching the play they’d commissioned. B******s! But he ends up in London and stars at the original Globe Theatre (unlike the two Herberts!)

The “Two Herberts” in rehearsal.

---

And, how do our unlikely heroes work together?

Ben: They’re an inseparable duo who depend on each other largely. Childhood friends who you would not see without the other at their side. Constantly finishing each other’s sentences and seen as one entity rather than two separate people.

Sam: I would say the relationship between Ros & Guil is one of people who have spent a long time together so they are very used to each other’s mannerisms. They do squabble and get frustrated with each other (especially in Guildenstern’s case)

If our Leading Player was the actual leading player of a group of travelling actors, Martin shared where he’d go and what production he would stage. You may think that the director responsible for February’s excellent production of Ibsen’s Ghosts might opt for another classic drama. Think again …

Martin: I’d take us back to Denmark*. We might finally get to perform uninterrupted “The Murder of Gonzago: the Musical. On Ice”.
* Well, I suppose he’s still in Scandinavia!

One for the EAT next season? Maybe not …

---

And what can people expect from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead?

Ben: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead can be watched whether you have or haven’t seen Hamlet. Tom Stoppard gives a fun and alternative perspective of the narrative from two minor characters, now shoved into the limelight and it may even give you a different outlook on the play Hamlet itself. It’s a perfect blend of wit, music and classic Shakespeare courtier scenes that promises a night filled with something for everyone!

Sam: It’s amusing twist on an outside perspective of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. It’s a very enjoyable snappy comedy, with an interesting dive into existentialism and fate.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead runs from 16^th – 23^rd May 2026. Book tickets from www.ticketsource.co.uk/edwardalderton

Find out more about our cast’s comedy heroes here.